Oral History of Modern America On-Line Oral History Handbook © 1993-2002 Jim Schnur, University of South Florida

 

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Introduction to the Handbook

To assist students and researchers conducting interviews for the Oral History of Modern America program, Jim Schnur designed a printed handbook in 1993 with tips and suggestions for interviewers.  An on-line version of this guide, with minor modifications, appears below.     Act I: Preparing for the Interview Step 1: Setting Your Goals 1. Decide on a broad research topic and evaluate potential interview subjects.  Oral histories generally assume one of three forms: a. Biographical interviews that record information about the subject’s life. b. Topical interviews that combine the recollections from a variety of participants that focus on a single topic (i.e., how the Second World War changed life in Ocala). c. Finally, a series of oral histories that focus on a single event (for example, the 1968 statewide teacher’s strike). 2. Examine primary and secondary sources and chronicles to gain an awareness of the chief events and participants involved. Once a theme is selected, you may examine either primary or secondary sources.  Primary sources are materials that originated from the period under consideration, such as archival materials, diaries, photographs, letters, and scrapbooks.  Secondary sources are synthetic narratives that describe an event in the past, such as scholarly articles, biographies, textbooks, and other products of research.  When examining source material, take note of names that appear (or appear frequently) in the documents.   Also, look at chronologies that allow you to place names and events in historical context.  From these lists, you will be able to decide which individuals should be interviewed and which events should be discussed.  From your knowledge of the broader topic, you can tailor questions to suit particular interviewees. Step 2: Arranging the Interview 1. Make the call.  During your preliminary contact, tell the potential interviewee about your research interests, or about the oral history project with which you are involved.  Establish the individual’s identity with and relationship to the general focus or topic through biographical questions.  (When did the person move to Florida?  How much could they contribute to our understanding of life in the community during World War II?)  Select interviewees based upon their knowledge of the topic.   If you subjects have little knowledge of relevant events or refuse to consent to an interview, you should ask them if they know of others who may have an interest in participating in this project. 2. Explain your intentions. During your conversation, many questions will inevitably arise.  (Who will have access to the tapes?  Where will they be located? Can anyone listen to them?)  Inform potential candidates of the themes you wish to discuss during the interview session.  Assure them that the interview will be informal rather than confrontational.  Your oral history session should resemble a friendly exchange of ideas and memories rather than the tense, adversarial interchange that often occurs between a lawyer and a witness in the courtroom.  Avoid making commitments that you may not be able to fulfill, and document any promises, special arrangements, or agreements before the interview session begins. 3. Set the appointment.  Reserve a quiet location where interruptions will remain at a minimum.  If the appointment is more than a week away, you may want to make a call or write a brief note, telling your subject that you look forward to the interview.  Mention the date, time, location, and topics you plan to discuss to allow the interviewee to prepare. 4. Encourage the interviewee to examine personal materials relevant to the topic.  They may have scrapbooks, journals, photographic albums, newspaper clippings, or other materials that will help them recall events.  And, of course, the interviewees should feel free to consult personal materials during the actual interview session.   Step 3: Before You Leave Home 1. Do your homework.  Formulate an outline or a variety of questions based upon your research of the time period or topic.  Avoid tightly written scripts that make the interview session appear rigid and leave little room for deviation.  Select questions that fill gaps in the historical record.  For example, instead  of asking your subject a question that could be readily found in other sources or that are difficult to answer (i.e.,  “Do you know the exact number of troops at Camp Blanding in October 1942?”), create a list of questions that make the interview personal (i.e., “How did your experiences as a young soldier at Camp Blanding change your life?”).  Use the interview as a way to obtain “inside information” unavailable from other sources, or for clarification when different sources offer conflicting accounts. 2. Make sure you have everything you will need before departing.  At a minimum, you should have the following: a. A cassette recorder in good working condition with its electrical cord and/or fresh batteries.  Test the equipment before leaving the house.  Check for sound quality.  If possible, use an external microphone with good sound fidelity.  Select a machine with good recording capability; you can always replay the tapes on a different machine.  Examine the machine for dust or other particles that may damage the recording heads or compromise the sound quality. b. A supply of new, unused, high-quality audiocassettes.  Avoid using miniature tapes or microcassettes; changes in technology may render them obsolete (remember 8-track tapes?).  Refrain from purchasing low-quality cassettes with inferior materials, or longer, extended play tapes (like C-120s).  Whenever possible use the thickest tapes available, like C-60s, which have 30 minutes recording time on each side.  Longer playing cassettes have thinner tapes that may cause the sound to echo or “bleed through” on the other side. c. A blank release form that, when completed, will transfer legal title and literary rights to the oral history program or grant project (if this interview will be donated to the USF St. Petersburg library's Special Collections and Archives). d. Any research notes, questions, or other materials that are necessary.   Act II: Conducting the Interview Step 1: Before Pressing the “RECORD” Button   1. Test the equipment one last time.  Does the cassette recorder work? Is the tape in the machine? 2. Place the interviewee at ease.  Take the interviewee to a quiet place away from unnecessary interruptions.  Meet with the interviewee on a one-to-one basis.  Third parties, whether spouses, friends, or relatives, may distract the interviewee.  If your subject feels nervous or uncomfortable, you may want to hide the tape recorder or start the recorder and talk about mundane matters: the weather, a recent sports event, or some other item that will “break the ice”.  You should quickly establish a strong rapport as the interviewee no longer feels the tape recorder’s presence.   Step 2: The Main Event 1. Identify yourself on the tape.  When starting the tape, allow for 5 or 10 seconds of silence (especially if the tape has a long leader), then identify the contents of the tape and context of the interview.  For example:  “This is tape number one of my interview with Mr. John Smith, an Ocala native and veteran of World War II.  My name is Tom Jones, and I am conducting this interview on February 5, 2002, at Mr. Smith’s home.  Welcome, and thank you for allowing me to interview you. . . . . .”  Biographical questions (i.e., “When were you born? Did you attend school locally?”  usually follow such introductory remarks. 2. Foster an intellectual exchange through strong questions.  Ask only one question at a time and keep it brief in length.  Do not overwhelm or confuse the interviewee by posing a series of involved, lengthy questions.  Establish a strong rapport with the speaker before asking questions of a delicate or controversial nature.  Formulate questions in a way that will encourage honest, detailed responses.  Avoid interjecting subjective commentary that might influence the answer.  To ask: “I thought the mayor was a generous and kind person; what did you think of him?” would place the interviewee in an awkward position if they held an opposing opinion.  3. Include open-ended questions.  Your questions should include general, short-answer questions (e.g., “When did you enlist in the military?”) as well as broader, open-ended questions (e.g., “How did wartime rationing affect your family?”).  Although you will have some general and topical questions, you want most of the questions in this session to address the unique vantage point that your interviewee can offer. 4. Feel free to deviate from the script.  Add zest to your interview and rekindle otherwise forgotten memories.  Show interest and listen carefully.  You must play a delicate balancing act:  Allow the interviewee to pause and reflect, yet try to keep the interview on track.  Never blurt out your next question in a moment of silence, but steer the conversation away from long-winded responses that venture far from the subject at hand.  Interrupt occasionally with new questions or guiding comments that evolve during the course of the interview, but never the interrupt the flow of a good story.  If the interview gets off track, you might say:  “This is very interesting, Mr. Smith.  However, before we move on, could you tell me about your first assignment in the platoon ? . . .”. 5. Respect the opinions of your interviewee.  Your subject may express views that contradict your beliefs.  However, avoid imposing presentist standards or criticism on historical actors.  By challenging the interviewees’ value system or attempting to convert them to your beliefs, you may merely alienate the participants and discourage them from sharing their honest reflections.    If discrepancies appear between interviewee’s account and other sources, you may have to do additional research or detective work after the interview has ended.  Remember that the subject’s statement may be an inaccurate representation or the larger picture, but a truthful recollection of what was witnessed from his or her limited perspective. 6. Keep the interview “in the Sunshine”.  During oral history interviews, subjects may occasionally ask you to put the interview under seal or restriction until a later date.  While you always respect confidentiality and “off the record” information, you should remind the interviewee of the value of their narrative and try to keep the recorder turned on as much as possible.  Oral history is of little value if present and future scholars cannot gain access to the materials.  If the interviewee seeks to close or limit access to the material—or you believe some contents of the interview could place the interviewee in a compromising position—place the terms of the restriction in the release form.  Make the period of restriction as short as possible and use specific language.  Avoid vague and unenforceable restrictions, such as “Open only to qualified researchers with a legitimate interest.” (How does one differentiate between “qualified” and “unqualified” researchers, and what constitutes “legitimate interest”?)  Discourage restrictions or the use of pseudonyms whenever possible. 7. Do not steal the show.   You should allow the interviewee an opportunity to tell a complete story, rather than force him or her to compete for attention in a balanced dialogue.  Remember to keep the subject as the focus of the interview; do not use the interview as a place to flaunt your expert knowledge.  Avoid wasting this rare opportunity to preserve someone’s memories by becoming a compulsive talker or an overbearing director.  Allow the interviewee to do most of the talking.  Compulsive talkers ask lengthy questions or offer thorough commentary, thereby forcing the interviewee to compete with the interviewer for air time.  8. Take copious notes and watch the tape counter.  While the tape recorder may preserve the verbal interchange, do not rely on it to capture the essence of the interview.  During the oral history session, the course of the interview may generate other ideas, potential subjects, or new questions.  Listing names, places, dates, or themes of special interest during an interview serves two essential purposes: It gives you an opportunity to make note of important thoughts during long pauses in the conversation, and provides an index to the flow and contents of the oral history session.  This index may later be used by library, archival, or museum staff to catalogue and to assign subject headings to the interview.  Whenever possible, use a tape recorder with a timer or counter, so you can keep track of memorable quotes.  If your recorder does not have a counter, be sure to wear a watch so you can write down the approximate time(s) of important portions in the dialogue.  Remember that no two tape counters operate at precisely the same speed. 9. Keep an eye on the tape.  Do not lose the best part of the interview by forgetting to monitor the tape.  You may have to ask your subject to pause briefly while you turn over or replace the cassette.  Avoid asking deep, thought-provoking questions just before the end of the tape.  After replacing the tape, remember to leave some blank tape at the beginning and once again identify the contents. Step 3: Concluding the Interview 1. Any last thoughts?  Before you stop the tape, give the interviewee an opportunity to share any thoughts or have closure on any issues discussed during the interview.  Also, thank your subject for agreeing to participate before you end the recording. 2. Collect related items, if possible.  The interviewee may have illustrative materials that might assist future researchers, such as clippings or photographs.  If possible, obtain copies of any materials that would allow others to place this interview within proper historical context.  You may even want to take a photograph of the interviewee, if he or she grants permission to do so.   Act III: After the Interview An Important Step: Safeguard the Interview! 1. Label and secure your tape.  Place a label on both the cassette and its container that indicates the following information:  names of interviewer and interviewee(s), the date, the tape number (if you used more than one tape), and the approximate length of the interview.  Listen to a few minutes of the tape to verify sound quality.  Remove plastic tabs on the top of the cassette to ensure that you never record over the interview. 2. Store the tape in a safe place.  Never keep audiocassettes (or other media items) in areas where they may encounter excessive fluctuations in temperature or humidity, direct exposure to ultraviolet light (like the sun), or electromagnetic radiation.  Place tapes in cool, dry areas away from natural pollution (dirt and dust) and electronic interference (such as microwaves, portable phones, vacuum cleaners. etc,)  Remember to bring release forms and other materials when you submit the tapes to the repository.

 
 
 

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