Creating Oral Histories: Difference between revisions

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circumstances.
circumstances.


==Whom to Interview==
== Whom to Interview ==
Your first task is to decide whom to interview and why. You may want to interview someone who can provide
information about a particular ancestor. Or you may want to do more general interviews with perhaps your
oldest living relative, another member of y our family, your town’s oldest resident, a neighbor, or anyone who
may have ties to or information about your family.
You should usually conduct interviews one on one. Some situations, however, such as extended family
gatherings, may provide a unique opportunity to capture the memories of several people at one time. In this sort
of situation, you might simply set up your video or tape recorder and introduce a discussion topic to the group,
such as inviting them to share their favorite memories of Grandma.
As the group shares their memories, individuals will tend to remember more than they would if they were
interviewed alone. Keep in mind that you may not always be able to distinguish who is saying what on the
recording on the group session, particularly if you only have an audio recording. And group noise may make
parts of the interview inaudible. You can compensate for those disadvantages by using more than one recording
device and by identifying the different voices as soon as possible after the recording session.


Your first task is to decide whom to interview and why. You may want to interview someone who can provide information about a particular ancestor. Or you may want to do more general interviews with perhaps your oldest living relative, another member of y our family, your town’s oldest resident, a neighbor, or anyone who may have ties to or information about your family. You should usually conduct interviews one on one. Some situations, however, such as extended family gatherings, may provide a unique opportunity to capture the memories of several people at one time. In this sort of situation, you might simply set up your video or tape recorder and introduce a discussion topic to the group, such as inviting them to share their favorite memories of Grandma. As the group shares their memories, individuals will tend to remember more than they would if they were interviewed alone. Keep in mind that you may not always be able to distinguish who is saying what on the recording on the group session, particularly if you only have an audio recording. And group noise may make parts of the interview inaudible. You can compensate for those disadvantages by using more than one recording device and by identifying the different voices as soon as possible after the recording session.


'''Expert Tip:'''
<br>'''Expert Tip:''' Face-to-face interviews are usually the most effective. If the person you want to interview does not live close to you, however, a telephone interview is an alternative. See appendix A for information about various recording options. Also see [https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/DIGITAL_SOUND Digital Sound]
Face-to-face interviews are usually the most effective. If the person you want to interview does not live close to you, however, a telephone interview is an alternative. See appendix A for information about various recording options. Also see Digital Sound https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/DIGITAL_SOUND


==Before the Interview==
==Before the Interview==
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