Historians Get Rare Opportunity to Comment on Federal Policy on Oral History Projects

The federal government is inviting comments (at www.hhs.gov/ohrp/documents/20071026.htm) on a draft policy on institutional review boards (IRBs). This is a rare opportunity for historians to comment about federal policies that could potentially have an intrusive impact on their work. Every historian who conducts oral history, or who advises students who use oral history methods, should respond to this request especially since previous formulations of this policy have been applied to history research in many colleges and universities inappropriately and in arbitrary ways. The deadline for offering comments is December 26, 2007....