History to go: oral history, audiowalks and mobile media

Audiowalks are becoming an increasingly popular way of experiencing history and
heritage of all kinds, and oral history is uniquely placed to produce very powerful
presentations linking spoken memory with specific places. This article surveys four key
audiowalks: The Ground Zero Sonic Memorial Soundwalk, Mike Pearson’s Carrlands,
Graeme Miller’s Linked, and Toby Butler’s Drifting. An analysis of some of the main contexts
and construction techniques of these walks provides a useful guide for the creation of future
oral history audiowalks; in particular the use of fragmented narrative is discussed as a
recurrent form of editing. Finally, an analysis of the implications of GPS-media for the art of
audiowalks is considered.