Historical interviews on topics such as the 2012 floods and the 2WG Women’s Club 1930-1960 have been transcribed as part of the Amplify Oral History Project.

Local historian Sherry Morris was part of the effort and interviewed those affected by the devastating floods in 2012. 

“It wasn’t long after it happened and there was a range of people from those in town who had to evacuate to out at Oura,” she said. 

“You could see the effect on the homes and yards and most of them had photos of what happened during the floods. 

“They all had an interesting story to tell.” 

Wagga City Library manager Claire Campbell said they are one of the first public libraries in Australia to use the State Library’s online tool called Amplify, which allows anyone to search, listen to and transcribe local audio collections.

“The community can get involved now by joining digital volunteers from around the world in the important task of transcribing these oral histories,” she said. 

“There is something about oral histories when you can hear them and hear the emotion in their voice.”

The transcriptions will be available for editing in the same way as the TROVE National Newspaper collection, with the community able to learn how to make corrections to the transcripts to help enrich the important cultural records.

“Amplify will give communities unparalleled access to their local histories,” State librarian Dr John Vallance said.

“Over 400 hours of oral histories that document the lives and experiences of local people and events across history, including our recent history, are just waiting to be explored and transcribed.

“Many of the oral histories held in these public library collections have never been made available online before.”

To start exploring, click here.