Talking about Listening: Beth Robertson and Alice Garner
Event Details
This online conversation brings together Beth Robertson and Alice Garner on the occasion of the publication of the 6th edition of Beth’s Oral History Handbook which has served as an essential guide for oral historians since the 1980s.
The lunchtime discussion will explore how oral history practice and technology have evolved since Beth wrote the first edition of the Handbook. There will be an opportunity for participants to ask questions of this highly experienced oral historian.
Free for members of Oral History Victoria (and other OHA state and territory association members), $10 for non-members.
Note: event starts 12.30 AEST time so there will be a different start time for people in some other states.
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Beth Robertson has 45 years’ experience in the fields of oral history and audiovisual preservation. She began using oral history in 1979 for her Honours History thesis at the University of Adelaide, and joined the Oral History Association of Australia (OHA) the same year. From 1987 to 1999 Beth was the foundation Oral History Officer at the State Library of South Australia (SLSA). She then became responsible for managing all SLSA’s audiovisual formats. For the last 20 years of her career she was Manager, Preservation of all the library’s collections. She retired in 2023.
Beth was presented with the inaugural national Hazel de Berg Award for Excellence in Oral History in 2006. She was a member of the Editorial Board of the OHA journal, 2007–2022, and the OHA Book Award judging panel, 2019–2022. Beth has also been a member of the Professional Historians Association (SA) for over 35 years.
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Alice Garner has been working as a freelance oral historian with the National Library of Australia and on independent history projects for nearly twenty years. She has a PhD in French history from the University of Melbourne (2001), and has published books and articles in social and educational history. She was President of Oral History Victoria from 2023-2025 and is currently a Research Fellow at the Australia India Institute. In 2025 she was awarded the Jane Hansen Prize for History Advocacy.
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For more information about the Oral History Handbook and to order a copy: