Resources for Interviews
One of the first things you may want to do is to interview your family members to see what they know about your family history. Preparing for these interviews will help you to ask the right questions, provide your interviewee with enough context to provide relevant answers, and make you better prepared to react to what the interviewee is telling you. Here are some resources that will help you think about and prepare for your interview.
Conducting Oral History Interviews: On the Record
Conducting Oral Histories with Family Members -- A guide created by UCLA Libraries.
Doing Oral History by ISBN: 0199329338Doing 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 by ISBN: 0807813419Publication Date: 1979-04-19A "how to" book adapting some of the best methods of group oral history projects to the needs of individual students.
Like It Was by ISBN: 0915924129Publication Date: 1988-09-01This how-to guide was written by a teacher who won the American Book Award for her work in oral history. Like It Was gives clear, helpful advice on every step of the oral history process: using the tape recorder; conducting the interview; transcribing the interview; editing the manuscript; writing short pieces; writing full biographies; writing from multiple narratives; and presenting the results. It also includes an invaluable "How to Do Oral History in Classrooms" section and an annotated bibliography. Like It Was brings personal involvement to the study of history and provides a solid structure for the practice of writing.
