HISTORY buffs in the Dunfermline area are being encouraged to lend their skills by volunteering at the new Dunfermline Museum and Art Gallery.

The museum, which will be integrated with the Carnegie Dunfermline Library, is set to open in 2016 and will also host temporary exhibition galleries, a cafe, a children’s zone and a local history, study and archives space.

The museum team are hoping that volunteers can help bring the exhibitions to life by conducting oral history interviews with members of the community.

Professional oral historians from the Scottish Oral History Centre are being brought in to help train the volunteers, who will learn about recording interviews, using voice recorders and keeping paperwork up-to-date for archives.

Research and activities assistant Katy Firth said, “This opportunity will suit those who have an interest in local history over the past century and who want to uncover untold histories from the people who lived and worked here.

"We’re looking for folk who already have good communication skills but who want to learn something new as well, such as how to use recording equipment.” One of the volunteers, Sandra, has already been carrying out some of the interviews. “I have really been surprised at how much interviewees enjoy being interviewed,” she said. “It brings back memories they thought they had forgotten!” The team are also looking for Dunfermline residents who have personal memories of the town, through their jobs, their leisure activities and even the fashions in their homes, to share with the museum and its volunteers.