References and permissions
Be as creative as you like while also being careful about collecting and referencing your sources.
All interviewees must give their consent to appear in your digital history. You must also have permission to use the material in your digital history, and you must reference your material at the end. These things are essential and your digital history will not be uploaded to the Making History showcase without them.
Permission to use material
Everything in your digital history must be:
- Original work created by you, such as video footage you recorded;
- In the public domain, meaning it is not under copyright;
- Copyrighted material that you have permission to use, such as:
- Photos from Museums Victoria Collection.
- Where you have a signed consent form from the creator to use it (For example, footage of an interviewee and/or a materials they provide).
- Creative Commons licenced work.
No other copyrighted material must be used in your digital history. Videos containing copyrighted material other than the above exceptions will not be approved for uploading to the Making History showcase.
Creative Commons material
Creative Commons is a system where creators allow the public to use their copyrighted material under specific conditions, which are outlined in a licence. Creative Commons licensed material is a great source for your digital history.
TIP: Check out the Creative Commons information pack for teachers and students, which explains what Creative Commons is, how to find Creative Commons licensed material, and how to correctly attribute it. Also have look at Flickr Creative Commons to search photos on Flickr that have been released under a Creative Commons licence.
Any music used needs to also be copyright free. Here is a list of sites where you can find royalty-free music:
Creative Commons: Music for videos released under a Creative Commons licence.
dig.ccmixter: Use this search engine to find Creative Commons licenced music.
Free Music Archive: Download high quality music for your video.
The Free Sound Project: Download sounds and sound effects (no songs).
Incompetech: Royalty-free music by Kevin McLeod.
Reference your sources
Everything that appears in your digital history must be acknowledged. To do this, list your sources at the end. This includes:
- The name of anyone you have interviewed
- Photos or illustrations
- Documents
- Audio such as songs or sounds
- Anything else you’ve used
We suggest you also include a courtesy line. For example, Photograph of Smith family. Courtesy of Mary Smith. If you have used material that falls under a Creative Commons licence, it needs to be attributed in a specific way, which the creator would've outlined when you acquired their material. See also the Creative Commons document, How to attribute Creative Commons licensed materials.
Consent Forms
Parental permission is required before students can participate in this project, which includes communicating, reproducing and publishing material online. Teachers are to ensure that permission forms have been completed for each student, and that they’re kept on file at school.
All interviewees must give their consent to appear in a digital history. Use the participant consent form to request, collect and store this material. This same form must be used for permission to reproduce images from third parties.
Please use the participant and guardian consent form below when completing a Making History project. This form has been developed in partnership with DET. The document also contains a checklist for you to complete before submitting your digital history to the showcase.
Keeping consent forms
An historian would keep these documents forever. However, we recommend that schools and students keep relevant documents for as long as the Making History site exists.
Privacy
Digital histories are identified by name and school or community group. Nicknames or group names can be used. We will never publish the full names of students – please ensure you only attribute your first name and first initial of your last name in your digital history credits.
For reporting and sorting purposes, Museums Victoria gathers statistical information about the year-level of students who upload digital histories. Names are not used in this reporting.