In contrast with the large amounts of potential interesting research material in digital multimedia repositories, the opportunities to unveil the gems therein are still very limited. The Oral History project ‘Verteld Verleden’ (Dutch literal translation of Oral History) that is currently running in The Netherlands, focuses on improving access to spoken testimonies in collections, spread over many Dutch cultural heritage institutions, by deploying modern technology both concerning infrastructure and access. Key objective in the project is mapping the various specific requirements of collection owners and researchers regarding both publishing and access by means of current state-of-thetechnology. In order to demonstrate the potential, Verteld Verleden develops an Oral History portal that provides access to distribut