It will give you suggestions for how to prepare for and conduct oral history interviews and help you determine, based on your context and purpose, how to integrate raw material into your essay. Part of our mission is to assist you in exploring oral history. For instance, you could check ives, the taperecorded interview, neuenschwander, oral history and the law, or sitton et al. General interview questions louisiana state university. Family history questions do you remember hearing your grandparents describe their lives. Ethnography vs oral history unearthing invisibilities. Over the past decades, the development of digital audio and video recording technology has continued to alter. Oral history provides a fuller, more accurate picture of the past by augmenting the information provided by public records, statistical data, photographs, maps, letters, diaries, and other historical materials.
Use of the oral history interview to assess communication and marital satisfaction in laterlife couples daniel james harkness iowa state university follow this and additional works at. History project and storycorps are leading the way in a new era of oral history collecting, and both of their collections are part of the american folklife center archive. What are the most important lessons youve learned in life. Oral history is distinguished from other forms of interviews by its content and extent. What is your full name and why were you named this. Metadata is crucial to all of these new ways to add value to the recorded oral history interview. There are many publications that outline the techniques and principles of oral history work. Interview definition is a formal consultation usually to evaluate qualifications as of a prospective student or employee. Interviewing in educational research department of history. The smithsonian folklife and oral history interviewing guide. Please tell me your name, your birthdate, our relationship, and where we are. The 911 memorial museums oral history collection documents the history of 911 through recorded interviews with responders, survivors, 911 family members, and others deeply affected by the attacks at the world trade center, the pentagon, and near shanksville, pennsylvania.
Conducting an oral history offers students an opportunity to. Sample questions to conduct an oral history interview please tell me your name, your birthdate, our relationship, and where we are. An oral history interview is not about the interviewer. New digital tools are being developed to enhance the accessibility of oral history interviews in various media and forms and to analyze and understand them in evergreater contexts. Use of the oral history interview to assess communication. Oral history interview release form xavier university. This case study offers a practical guide to oral history methodology. Because every individual is unique and every interviewer has his or her own special interests and research goals, there is no single set of questions that will fit every situation. This handout will help you figure out how to use oral histories in essays. What neighborhood or community did you live at first. Written by linda shopes, this guide presents an overview of oral history and ways historians use it, tips on questions to ask when reading or listening to oral history interviews, a sample interpretation of an interview, an annotated bibliography, and a guide to finding and using oral history.
An interview definition can be crafted as a gentle conversation between two people or more where questions are asked to a person to get the required responses or answers. Conducting an oral history interview phmc oral history. Oral history helps round out the story of the past. Over the past decades, the development of digital audio and video recording technology has continued to alter the practice of oral history, making it. Oral sources and oral history the phrase oral history is a common abbreviation for what we might describe, more articulately, as the use of oral sources in history or the social sciences. How do i archive conduct an oral information sheet history. While this book prioritizes the documentation of folklife, by which we mean traditional culture and heritage, the guidelines offered here for interview. It allows people to tell their stories as they talk, prompted by questions from an interviewer. In addition to the workshops that we offer to community groups, we are happy to provide this manual as a resource and guide to oral history interviewing. Horalhist is an hnet discussion network established in 1996, based on an earlier listserv, ohal, developed by terry birdwhistell of the university of kentucky. Oral history interviews seek an indepth account of personal experience and reflections, with sufficient time allowed for the narrators to give their story the fullness they desire. Doing oral history is considered the premier guidebook to oral history, used by professional oral historians, public historians, archivists, and genealogists as a core text in college courses and throughout the public history community. Oral history interviewing guidelines an oral history interview is not about the interviewer. For a full alphabetical and chronological list of the interviews, please click here.
Interview definition of interview by merriamwebster. You can, of course, alter them to suit your particular family cultural background, etc. Conducting an oral history offers students an opportunity to reach out to the older. Oral history interview, questions and topics following is a list of questions that may be used when interviewing an older member of the family. The act up oral history project interviews are listed in chronological order. When you decide to create your own oral history, be sure to take the time to prepare for the interview and decide on the most important questions you want to ask. How do i cite an oral history interview in apa format.
Informational interview provides nonrecoverable data. Oral presentations typically involve three important steps. Pdf the module presents a holistic view of the various tools and techniques employed by researchers for the collection of data. Okay, so we start, and you just say your name, your age, where we are, and todays date. Use the below information to cite various interviews. By showing how national or international events affected the lives of individuals, oral history adds a personal dimension to the study of the past. Its primary mission is to explore the nature and significance of oral history and advance understanding of the field among scholars, educators, practitioners, and the general public. Obtain consentbe sure the narrator understands why this interview is important. Oral history interview questions worksheet oral history is an interview that records a persons recollection of experiences, thoughts, and feelings about a specific event or a period of time. Scholars estimate that approximately 50% of all mistakes in an oral presentation actually occur in the planning stage or rather, lack of a planning stage. To access individual interviews, please click on the photo or title of the interview.
Also, note that it is important to establish rapport with family members prior to interviewing them. Discovering oral history 1 oral history is a sound recording of historical information, obtained through an interview that preserves a persons life history or eyewitness account of a past experiencebut read on. Guidelines for oral history interviews the history. Preface this oral history is based on a series of about 25 hours of interview sessions with representative helen sommers on her 36year career representing the 36th legislative district in seattle from 19732009. The focus should be on the interviewee and they should do most of the talking, with occasional questions from you to guide the interview in directions you think are the most productive. Introduction oral history refers both to a method of recording and. This roughly translates to between view or seeing each other. Here are a series of questions that you can use when interviewing a family member. Oct 11, 2015 oral historians are seldomly in this predicament simply due to the nature of oral history. Oral histories are accounts given by a person of events earlier in their life. Prepare and take with you a general list of questions or topics that cover the research. Sample questions to conduct an oral history interview.
Oral history interview guidebook national heritage board. Who is the oldest person you can remember in your family from when you were a child. Anyone can create good oral history if they understand a few basic principles and apply them as they go. Oral history office attachment iii oral history interview tips 1. About oral history oral history research and resources. Oral history is an exciting tool for collecting and preserving history.
The following are some that might help guide an interview with a relative or community member about family folklore and local traditions. Brenner university of california, santa barbara this chapter is concerned with introducing openended interviews, in other words, interviews in which the intent is to understand informants on their own terms and how they make meaning of their own lives, experiences, and cognitive processes. Centre for urban history university of leicester leicester le1 7rh phone. Often, they are taken by family members, historians, archivists, or others who interview older people in an attempt to document events and lives that might otherwise be forgotten. This means that both the groups involved in an interview get to know about one another. Oral history interview release form interviewee name interviewee address i hereby grant to xavier university and its authorized agents the following rights and permissions with respect to all materials originating from theoral history interview, including, without limitation, photographs, films, or voice. Part of thefamily, life course, and society commons,gerontology commons, and thesocial psychology commons. Picking an interview topic first, you must decide upon some event or period of history. Principles and best practices oral history association. The questions give narrators time to do some research into their own memories before they sit down for the interview. Planning oral presentations require a good deal of planning.
The oral history book is a oneonone interview with representative sommers. This oral history is based on a series of about 25 hours of interview sessions with representative helen sommers on her 36year career representing the 36th legislative district in seattle from 19732009. Family background what do you remember about your grandparents. Oral history project guidelines minnesota historical society.
Learn all you can about the subjects of the interview community, organization, family, individual, etc. Oral history typically involves interviews with individuals who either tell their life stories or focus on a certain aspect of their history. Oral history preserve your family treasures minnesota. It partly draws on a series of interviews i conducted for a british academyfinanced project, which explored traditional perspectives on a decade of intense political violence in italy. Oral history typically involves interviews with individuals who either tell their life stories or.
Download sample questions to conduct an oral history interview. It features a general guide to conducting an interview, as well as a sample list of questions that may be adapted to your own needs and circumstances. You are there to record someone elses experiences, not to talk about yourself. Before thinking about the writing portion of the assignment, you will have to find someone to interview. Whether conducting their own research or developing an institutional project, first time interviewers and others involved in oral history projects should seek training to prepare themselves for all stages of the oral history process. Perhaps the most important difference between oral history and traditional history is the personal nature of the former. This booklet presents some guidelines smithsonian folklorists have developed over the years for collecting folklife and oral history from family and community members. The whole point of the interview is to make sure the narrator tells his or her own story. Oral historians are seldomly in this predicament simply due to the nature of oral history. When you split the word interview you get two words, inter and view. What is the difference between oral history and traditional. It will give you suggestions for how to prepare for and conduct oral history interviews and help you determine, based on your context and purpose. He conducted his first interview in 1948 with new york civic leader george mcaneny, and both the columbia oral history research officethe largest archival collection of oral history interviews in the worldand the contemporary oral history movement were born. Your oral history assignment is composed of two parts.
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