Davidson Stories: Oral Histories and Interviews

For detailed guidance about best practices, we recommend reading the Oral History Association's "Principles for Oral History and Best Practices for Oral History," adopted in October 2018. As the official leading professional body for oral historians in the United States, this organization offers guidance for all levels of experience. For convenience, we summarized some of their recommendations, below:

Interviewing:

• Select a quiet location to conduct your interview. Avoid windows and busy areas of a home or business when possible.
• Always ask your interviewee for their consent to record WHILE recording, in addition to having the permission form signed on the day of the interview. Open your interview by introducing the location, date, subject, and persons present.
• Practice active listening during your interview. Ask follow-up questions about your interviewee's responses rather than prepping the next question in advance. 
• Be prepared to stop the recording if asked. Always respect the interviewee's boundaries.

For detailed guidance about best practices, we recommend reading the Oral History Association's "Principles for Oral History and Best Practices for Oral History," adopted in October 2018. As the official leading professional body for oral historians in the United States, this organization offers guidance for all levels of experience. For convenience, we summarized some of their recommendations, below:

Preservation:

• Save your recordings in a nonproprietary format (ex: .mp3, .wav, .mp4, .pdf, .odt). These formats are not specific to a particular operating system or software, thus ensuring increased access in the future.
• Make at least two copies of your recordings and/or transcripts. Keep one file as the "preservation copy" and one file as the "use copy." Do not open or share the preservation copy to prevent corruption of the file. Use the use copy for access.
• Save an additional copy of your signed permissions forms in case issues come up in the future or in case you decide to donate your materials. 

Access and Use:

• Whenever possible, provide transcripts alongside your recordings to meet accessibility standards.
• Respect the terms and conditions outlined in your permissions forms - for example, if interviewees forbid quoting from their interviews, do not quote or allow others to quote from the interviews. 
• When making interviews available online or otherwise, contextualize the contents of the interviews in an effort to dissuade stereotyping and misuse.

Why transcribe?

Oral historians transcribe interviews for a variety of reasons. Transcriptions are often easier for researchers to browse, they are smaller digital files so they are easier to store, and they act as an additional preservation copy of an interview. Transcriptions are also screen-reader friendly, making the interview more accessible.

How to transcribe:

Transcribing can be as simple as listening to the audio and writing what you hear. There are levels of detail that you might choose when transcribing - from jotting down main themes and timestamps to a full, polished written record of the audio file including interruptions, silences, or body language. One guide we often recommend is Baylor University's Style Guide.

Issues with transcription:

Often, aural and oral nuances are lost in the transcription process. While you can indicate a pause, silence, or emphasis using brackets in your transcriptions, these words mean different things to different readers. Be wary of assigning false meaning to your narrators’ words with these situational descriptors. When in doubt, it is best practice to provide your narrator with a copy of the transcription to review before putting your interview in an archives or publishing.

Be transparent with your motives when approaching potential interviewees. Clearly communicate project goals and solicit questions from your interview partners. Strive for a model of reciprocity - ask yourself, “does the interviewee benefit from this process? Will the community benefit?” Be clear about where the interviews will live and how they will be used.

You should strive for a “do no harm” model - consider what information will be important for the historical record, but also hold space for your interviewee to arrive at their own conclusions. 

Factors to Consider:

Working with Minors:

Are you planning to interview narrators who are underage (under 18)? You will need a release form signed by a parent or guardian as well as the narrator.

Also consider - is your narrator old enough to truly consent? Are you asking them about events or situations that could endanger themselves or others? Consider waiting until the narrator is 18 to release the interviews, or placing a specific, time-bound restriction on the files. If you have questions, contact HSIRB.

Interviewees of Different Cultures:

What are the cultural norms of your interviewee? Ask if there are topics you are not allowed to address or if there should be another person in the room.

These responsibilities extend beyond the interview - it may not be acceptable to share certain information beyond the interview space. Determine these limitations before the interview begins and make note of them in the release form with an attached appendices.

Understand there may be historical precedents of extractive interviews which result in interviewee reticence. Additionally, different cultures have different understandings of the words "ownership" and "copyright" - carefully discuss these terms with your narrator.

Working with vulnerable populations

Does your project include interviews with displaced persons, imprisoned persons, survivors of abuse, mental health, or veterans (among others)? Carefully consider the ethics, legality, and morality of making such interviews available online as well as informed consent. In these instances, it would be important to contact HSIRB.