{"id":41,"date":"2025-02-14T17:58:47","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T17:58:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/hjameslouwerse2\/?page_id=41"},"modified":"2025-06-09T21:31:36","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T20:31:36","slug":"seaton-delaval-hall","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/hjameslouwerse2\/seaton-delaval-hall\/","title":{"rendered":"Seaton Delaval Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

sdh. 001<\/mark><\/em> My work with Seaton Delaval Hall can be divided into two parts. The first is the oral history pilot project which ran through my research period, and the second is my design of the Research Room at the Hall during my three-month placement in the summer of 2022. From these two activities I identified the opportunities and obstacles of recording and using oral histories within the particular setting of a heritage site, Seaton Delaval Hall. My presence at the Hall led the staff to become more familiar with oral history and the wicked problem that surrounds it. They also helped me in my work, and I helped them with theirs, from unloading easter eggs to digitising cassettes to advising on copyright.1<\/a><\/sup> Together with some members of the Hall’s staff, I completed my residency by developing an oral history strategy for them to follow in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Email advising on copyright – OHD_SSH_0309<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Recording Oral Histories<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Oral History information sheet – OHD_COL_0291<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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My interview participation agreement<\/em><\/strong> – OHD_COL_0291<\/a> <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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sdh. 002<\/mark><\/em> I recorded my interviews under the auspices of Newcastle University. This was initially because it seemed the most logical option. I later learned that if I had recorded under the National Trust, I would have faced a different set of ethical and logistical challenges. For instance, the IT office opposed storing WAV files on SharePoint due to their large size and carbon footprint, while the Data Protection Office insisted on using SharePoint for data security reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following digital storage rules (given to me by the archivist at BALTIC in 2021) I kept my recordings in three different places: two hard drives, one of which I kept at home, and Microsoft Teams.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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My hard drives with my recordings. <\/em>
Top: SDH_PP. Bottom: Stormtrooper.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Screenrecording of the British Library compliant index for my oral histories. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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sdh. 003<\/mark><\/em> After each recording, I wrote a detailed summary for the participant to review. I recorded twelve oral histories and spent most of the time sorting out the copyright, which proved to be a challenge. The first obstacle in obtaining copyright was creating the appropriate copyright form. I had been given permission from the oral history archivist at the British Library to donate my recordings to the local Northumberland Archives. However, this meant I could not use the National Trust’s standard copyright form because this ascribes copyright jointly to the British Library and the Trust. I therefore needed to make my own copyright form, and as I was not an expert on oral history or archival copyright I used existing forms as inspiration.2<\/a><\/sup> I then sent my first draft of the agreement to the archivist at Northumberland Archives and attempted to seek contact with the head of copyright at the Trust. The former approved while the latter, after my Trust supervision emailed them multiple times, replied that this was not the kind of copyright they dealt with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Copyright forms (for inspiration)<\/em><\/strong> – OHD_FRM_0226<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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sdh. 004<\/mark><\/em> The second obstacle was getting people to sign the copyright, something many oral historians experience. I was fortunate to have help from the Hall’s team, specifically the Volunteering Officer, who proved essential to securing copyright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Final copyright form<\/em><\/strong> – OHD_FRM_0290<\/strong><\/em><\/a>Download<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Email about OH copyright – OHD_SSH_0294<\/a> <\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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sdh. 005<\/mark><\/em> I concluded the oral history pilot project with a listening party at the Hall one evening in the summer of 2024,3<\/a><\/sup> inspired by the listening parties oral historians organise as a way to engage the wider community beyond the interviewees.4<\/a><\/sup> Various volunteers and staff members, some who I had recorded and some who I had not, came to listen to audio extracts and have a discussion about the content. It was lovely and had a surprisingly high turnout. I asked audience members to write about why they attended and what they took away from the experience.5<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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