Oral History Interviews
The length of your Oral History Interviews will vary according to the objectives of your event and your technical & storage capacity. If the oral history is tied to a particular object, the majority of the relevant details can be covered in an interview no longer than 5-10 minutes.
NOTE: Your audio recording equipment will likely vary depending on the size and scope of your event.
- If the contributor has multiple items, begin with the lowest ID number and move sequentially for each interview.
- Check the contributor’s sticker for their permissions(ANON, NA, etc.); reassure them that you will respect their selection.
- If no audio (NA): Audio will be used only for transcription purposes. Transcribe and delete the audio.
- If anonymous (ANON): De-identify the interview before posting it, and the “contributor” information on the website will say “Anonymous Contributor”
- If personal use (PRIV): Do NOT use the interview on the community archive website. Send the contributor the recording along with the digitized object for their personal archives.
NOTE: Your audio recording equipment will likely vary depending on the size and scope of your event. Here, we have used a Sony PX series recording device as an example.
- Power on your recording device using the button on the side
- To record, press the REC/PAUSE button, marked with a red circle. Make sure the device has starting recording before beginning the interview. You should see a red light and the recorder timer counting upwards.
- Position the recording device so that it is between the interviewer and the contributor. Make sure that the microphone is facing both the interviewer and the contributor.
- To begin the interview, the interviewer should state their name and the contributor’s Object ID. For example:
- “My name is _____ and I am interviewing the community member who contributed (Object ID) as part of (Event Name).”
- If the contributor is basing their oral history on an artifact, ask the following questions, but be aware of the length of the interview:
- What is the name of your object?
- When and where did you acquire it? (What year, city, etc.)
- What is the date of the item’s creation?
- How would you physically describe your object?
- What is the object’s significance?
- When you see this object, what kind of memories does it recall?
- Is there anything I didn’t ask you about this object that you would like to talk about?
- If the contributor is basing their oral history on a photo or other image which conveys the topic they would like to discuss, ask the following questions:
- Which memory would you like to share with us today?
- Why is this memory significant to you?
- How does this memory relate to your identity?
- Is there anything I didn’t ask that you would like to talk about?
- Once finished, press “Stop” to end the recording.
- Power off the recorder and hand it to the guide.
- The guide will accompany the contributor to the check-out station and will hand over the recorder to the volunteer working that station.