Listening toward Archiving: Talk and Workshop
Archives at NCBS
in collaboration with Oral History Association of India (OHAI) and Milli Archives Foundation
Listening toward Archiving
Talk and Workshop on Oral History Metadata Assessment and Planning Tool
Lauren Kata
New York University Abu Dhabi, University Archives
Monday, July 7, 2025. 2:00 PM
Listening toward Archiving: Reflecting on a Career of Oral History Archives Work
Golgi Conference Room, ELC 1st Floor, NCBS
Wednesday, July 9, 2025.
Workshop on Oral History Metadata Assessment and Planning Tool
Part 1: 11.00 AM – 12.30 PM: Golgi Conference Room, ELC 1st Floor, NCBS
Part 2: 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM: Chloroplast Conference Room, ELC 2nd Floor, NCBS
Talk: Listening as Archiving: Reflecting on a Career of Oral History Archives Work
Lauren Kata has been an archivist working with oral history collections for over 20 years. From her first job as the inaugural archivist for the Society of Women Engineers (US), to her role as a collections management archivist for The Episcopal Church, to her current role stewarding University Archives at New York University Abu Dhabi, and projects in between, oral history has been at the center of knowledge production and meaning making with archives. Reflecting on examples from various moments in her career, Lauren will share her experiences and invite conversation about interviews as critical and valuable primary sources of history.
Oral History Workshop:
Metadata is perhaps one of the most critical parts of oral history collections management. Description is a first point of entry to discovery, access, and understanding. But what is important to know about oral history, to make it as discoverable, accessible, and understood as possible? Lauren Kata, founding member of the (US) Oral History Association’s Metadata Task Force, has been thinking about this question for over a decade, and has co-developed a “Metadata Assessment and Planning Tool” and approach for describing and cataloging oral histories. This workshop will include a review of the OHA Metadata Task Force’s work, and a walk-through of the metadata assessment toolkit. Participants will be invited to engage in the steps for assessing their own metadata practices, and be introduced to “system agnostic” approaches to oral history description.
Bio:
Lauren Kata has engaged in oral history at all stages of the lifecycle and within a variety of contexts for more than 20 years, in the US and abroad. A certified professional archivist (CA), Lauren is an active member of the (US) Oral History Association, former editor of the International Oral History Association’s journal Words & Silences, and is a member of the Oral History Review Editorial Board. In 2019, Lauren joined New York University Abu Dhabi’s academic librarian team and is archivist and oral history interviewer for the NYUAD’s University Archives. She is a graduate of Wayne State University where she earned her MA in History and Graduate Certificate in Archival Administration, and earned her Bachelor of Arts in History and American Studies from Case Western Reserve University.