This paper discusses ways to think about the dynamics between oral productions and technologies for recording texts. It addresses the special problems of collecting, interpreting, and transcribing literature of North American Indians. Many of the original transcriptions of these works were done with an Indian translator for whom English was not the first language. This accounts for the incompleteness of early works. Later, when audio recordings were used, the quality of transcription improved. In the 1960s an approach called ethnopoetics further aided the transcription process by concentrating on the maintenance of linguistic accuracy and fidelity to the performance context. Now video recording technologies make it possible to have a more expansive record of oral literary productions. This technology has brought about changes in the relationship between the audience and the performer; they no longer have to be in physical contact with each other. But electronic technologies require economic considerations which plain writing did not. They also require a considerable amount of infrastructure, such as power lines which put the transcriber and the audience in a dependent position. (VM)