The 100 Project preserves history of Australia's centenarians

When Bek Hyland sat down to interview her grandmother, Merle Moore, she found herself taken back to a time when the horse and cart were the main form of transport.

The late centenarian remembered the grief of losing a sister, and the simple joy of turning on a light switch.

"I've had a sad life, but I've got to overcome a lot of that and think of the good things, not the bad things," she said.

"Nobody had power, electricity, just kerosene lights on the centre of the table; white candles in a candlestick to get to bed with, until electricity came and then everyone was laughing."

"Unless you've been through it, you just don't know the value of lights."

One of the "good things" Ms Moore got to savour before her death at the age of 106 was watching herself tell her life's story on the 100 Project, an online directory of centenarians' tales.

"We watched it a few times together over the years because she'd forgotten she'd done it," Ms Hyland said.

"She was always in awe: 'Wow, that was me, yes, that's my life, that's so great.'

"It always brought a smile to her face to know she was captured and will be remembered this way."

When Ms Hyland was planning her grandma's 100th birthday party at Depot Beach on the south coast of NSW, the 100 Project caught her eye, and a couple of years later she reached out.

"Having the opportunity to simply sit with her and ask her the questions and capture her memories, it's been one of the most meaningful experiences of my life," she said.

"We did it four years ago now, and there are many more centenarians who have added their stories to it since.

"I can only imagine it's going to keep growing now that people are living longer."

The 100 Project

Filmmakers Ros Walker and John Winter are the creators of The 100 Project, which encourages people to document elders' stories for posterity.

"Often with the very old, they tend to get little grabs on Anzac Day or on special occasions when you see them blowing out candles and things like that," Mr Winter said.

"But I've discovered centenarians have great stories to tell and they're very keen on telling them."

Potential participants are asked to fill in an online form.

If the nomination is accepted, they can upload their own videos, which are edited for free, or the project team may choose to do the interview themselves.

"We probably interviewed half of the centenarians we've got, but families can use the online tutorials, their smartphones and our questions to interview the centenarian," Mr Winter said.

"We're interested in talking to people that have lived for 100 years and asking their opinion on how things are going in the world, and in the future as well."

With no plans other than sharing online through social media, The 100 Project stores the content for posterity, for current and future Australians.

Video versus audio

The 100 Project is not the only digital collection of Australia's spoken history.

The Memory Tapes podcast by the National Library of Australia presents a collection of audio interviews with Australians that dates to 1957.

Curator Shirleene Robinson said the stories contained in the 58,000 hours of recorded history included famous people and ordinary Australians as well.

"There are people in that collection who can take us back to stories of seeing the convicts with lashes on their backs and so on, so it really is an extraordinary resource for all Australians," Dr Robinson said.

Dr Robinson said there was a growing interest in genealogy, ancestry and living history.

"It's important we understand the history of our own country, and it's also important we understand the histories of our family, of who we are as well," she said.

The aural historian said it could be easier to capture people's stories without filming them.

"I think it's a lot easier to have somebody relax and share their story if it's only audio than if they're also being filmed at the same time," she said.

"People really are searching for something that is real, that is genuine and authentic where you know you're listening to something that was recorded face-to-face, perhaps in 1987 or just this year, that's really powerful."

Don't interrupt!

For anyone looking to record the story of an elderly or medically unwell loved one, Mr Winter had some simple advice.

He said the key was finding a quiet location and not interrupting the subject.

"Allow them space after they've answered a question because often, after the silence, comes the best answer."