Digital Archive Volunteer

We’re looking for technically minded volunteers to help with the production side of our oral history work, turning our interview recordings into properly catalogued content and curated sound clips that are shared with the public through our website www.rememberingthepast.co.uk

You don’t need experience in oral history or archiving. If you’re comfortable with computers, interested in audio, and willing to learn, we’ll teach you the rest. The work can be done from home or at our volunteer base at the Linskill Centre, and the time commitment is just a few hours a month, arranged flexibly around you.

What You’ll Be Doing

The core task is audio post-production: editing recorded oral history interviews in Audacity and cutting them into the shorter clips we publish alongside transcripts on our website. Once you’re confident with that, there’s also:

• Cataloguing sound files and images, adding descriptions and metadata so people can find and explore the archive

• Adding and updating pages on our WordPress website

• Digitising items from our physical collection for online storage and sharing

What We’re Looking For

Essential:

• Comfortable using a computer and navigating the internet

• Good written English – accuracy matters when cataloguing content

• Patient, reliable, and attentive to detail

• An interest in people, history, or community life

What You’ll Get Out of It

• Full training and ongoing support from a friendly, experienced team

• Practical digital skills in audio editing, archiving, and web content management

• A reference for future employment or voluntary roles

• The chance to work with interesting historic material – the recorded voices of North Tyneside people going back decades

What skills do I need?

Useful, but not required:

• Experience with audio editing software, particularly Audacity

• Familiarity with WordPress or similar content management systems

• An interest in oral history, sound archiving, or local heritage

• Previous voluntary or community experience

Interested?

We’re always happy to have an informal conversation before you commit to anything.

About Remembering the Past

RTP collects the invaluable cultural and social history contained within the memories older people; ensuring that it is given the recognition it deserves by sharing it with other people. As well as the benefit for contributors and the wider community RTP

When do I need to be available?

	Morning	Afternoon	Evening
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

Details

A few hours a month, flexible to suit you.