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Professional ethics in building collections from oral traces of the past in Zimbabwe

Information Development

Published online on

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to investigate the ethical practices of oral history archivists at the National Archives of Zimbabwe when undertaking oral history interviews. Every aspect of oral history work has an ethical dimension. It is important that archivists identify and become aware of ethical issues most pertinent to them. There is a lack of knowledge regarding the ethical challenges that oral history archivists at the National Archives of Zimbabwe face when carrying out their work. Evidence from the face-to-face interviews and documents revealed that the activities of oral history archivists are not governed by a code of ethics for oral historians and they have limited ethical competence. The oral history professional association has not actively advocated a professional code of ethics. The research findings may help oral history archivists to develop ethical astuteness. Furthermore, the study will contribute to the growing body of literature about the role of archival professionals in shaping recorded social memory through their ethical responsibilities.