The RESP Archive Project

The RESP Archive Project is delighted to announce the launch of a new website that will allow access to a fascinating collection of more than 400 hours of oral history fieldwork recordings.

These recordings have been collected as part of the Regional Ethnology of Scotland Project (RESP) which works with communities across Scotland to collect information about local life and

society through the spoken word.  The recordings were made during the first phase of the RESP, in Dumfries and Galloway (2011-2018).  The interviews were all carried out by local volunteers (who were trained by the RESP team) and the resulting interviews give us a unique view of people’s everyday lives and experiences, told in their own voices.   

A central ethos of the RESP model is that the entire collection should be made freely available in an easily accessible way and the dedicated website has been developed to help with this goal. 

The website provides a user-friendly platform from which to search and interrogate the recordings made for the RESP.  More recordings will be added to the website as the finding aids are finalised. The next collection to be added will be from East Lothian.  Alongside the digital recordings, users will have access to full interview transcripts, summary descriptions and, where available, photographs of the interviewees, interviewers and any other relevant images.   

The RESP archive team have worked alongside the Digital Library to create a robust digital preservation programme which will ensure both the long term preservation and ongoing technical support for the Project’s digital content.   To find out more and to explore this fascinating insight into everyday life in Scotland please visit the RESP Website. 

The RESP is managed by the EERC and supported by the Centre for Research Collections.     

- Lesley Bryson