Work for the Oral History Program

Copyeditors

What do copyeditors do?

Create clarity and consistency across all of the written records connected to our oral histories.  Copyeditors review indexes (subject matter guides) for every OHP interview, making sure these documents clearly communicate an interview’s content to a general audience.  They also review indexes to verify that they follow OHP’s style guide.

Copyeditors also help improve other kinds of written materials generated by OHP.  Additional documents that our copyeditors work on include: training manuals, website content, interview transcripts, reports for stakeholders, and our style guide.

Preferred skillset for copyeditors

• Demonstrated proofreading abilities
• Attentive reading skills: ability to identify text that does not conform to standard rules of grammar, punctuation, and spelling
• Critical thinking and problem-solving abilities
• Ability to revise writing based on constructive feedback

Digital Preservation Technicians

What do digital preservation technicians do?

Digitize, research, and interpret oral histories. Many of OHP's interviews were recorded on 1960s-1980s era technology (reel-to-reel, cassettes) and are deteriorating. Preservation Techs perform the essential work of preserving community members' stories by converting them to digital files. After digitizing, they index the interviews. Through indexing, Preservation Techs create a useful topical guide that researchers use to understand the full-length interviews. The indexing process can also involve conducting additional research at local archives.

Preservation Techs are also called upon to help with related tasks including: creating web content to profile parts of our collection, transcription, and helping the Director with oral history advocacy projects.

Preferred skill set for digital preservation technicians 

• Ability to relate primary source evidence to its historical context
• Attentive listening
• Critical thinking and problem-solving abilities
• Ability to revise writing based on constructive feedback

How To Apply

If you would like to work for OHP, send an email expressing your interest to oralhistory@uwlax.edu. Specify which position you are applying for.

Applicants for Copyeditor positions should include:

• Current resume
• Writing sample that demonstrates writing and proofreading skills

Applicants for Digital Preservation Technician positions should include:

• Current resume
• Writing sample that demonstrates historical contextualization skills