Oral Personal History: Difference between revisions

''History is merely a list of surprises. It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again.''(Kurt Vonnegut)<br><br>Recording Personal Histories from Friends and Relatives You may have relatives or friends whose life story you’d love to have. You may feel that their stories, as well as your own should be given to your descendents. If your parents or grandparents haven’t written theirs yet, you’ll certainly want to get them too. <br>However, as much you try to encourage them to write their personal histories, they may not be very willing to do so. Interviewing them with a voice recorder or camcorder may be your only option. <br>I would very much encourage you to use some kind of digital camcorder rather than just recording the voice. With a video recording, you can include pictures, old family films, voice recordings of other people, background music and even narration if you want. <br>Here are some do’s and don’ts on the recording of personal histories either for yourself or others. These ideas also apply if you are using a camcorder.  

When making arrangements for the interview, let the person know what time period or what subjects you will cover but not in detail. This preparations allows the mind to start searching its memory banks to get memories a little closer to the surface. <br>Be careful not to give them the exact questions you’ll be asking. Giving them the questions ahead of time has a tendency to reduce spontaneity and create set answers. <br>You’ll want to capture other memories that are almost always triggered by spontaneous responses. Besides, it is fun to watch the person’s eyes as the memories start to come back.  

Set up your recording machine as soon as you arrive. Don’t engage in small talk before you turn on the machine. There may be some things in the small talk that should be recorded.<br>To start, put the person at ease by asking some opened ended questions like: