Policies and Procedures

The George J. Mitchell Oral History Project seeks to collect remembrances using a methodology that insures the quality and integrity of our oral history interviews. The Project follows the principles, standards, policies, and procedures as laid out by the Oral History Association.

All Interviewees receive a letter of invitation to participate in the project and a description of the project for their reference. Copies of OHA’s Principles and Standards are available upon request.

All interviews are audio-recorded, transcribed, and undergo a thorough review and editing process to insure accuracy.

Interviewees are assured of strict confidentiality of their interview in both audio and text forms until they have had an opportunity to review and correct the transcript to their satisfaction and agree to make their interview accessible. Until the end of the interviewing phase of the project, access to the recordings and transcripts is restricted to the Project director, transcript editors, and to interviewers for background use in preparing for future Project interviews. Interviewers will never reveal remarks made in one interview, anonymously or otherwise, in a subsequent interview.

For more detailed descriptions of the process, please see the Project’s Oral History Manual.