By David Ryan
Family stories are a gold mine of information for genealogical research, but their intangible nature makes them the most easily lost. They provide invaluable clues for our family history research. What is the best way to collect some of these life stories and keep them safe for future generations? Doing a family history interview isn’t as simple as sitting down and recording someone. Like any other research project, there is a significant amount of planning and preparation involved.
Preparing the Interview
The type of equipment you use for recording will depend on your situation. Smartphones offer convenience and often come with some sort of app for recording. However, the quality of the audio might vary, and editing options might be limited. There are a number of affordable digital audio recorders available, but there may be a steeper learning curve to learning how to use them compared to just a smartphone. However, they may offer a better recording quality. Regardless of which device you use, just make sure that it is fully charged and has plenty of storage space beforehand.
To begin, do some research on the interviewee and the topics you wish to discuss. This can better help you to decide on which aspects of the interviewees life to focus on. It is difficult to cover everything about a person’s life in one interview. You may have to decide in advance if you want to concentrate on their childhood, their professional life, or maybe on some other area. When doing your research and planning out your questions, take the time to consider what a wider audience would be interested in hearing about. Just because you are familiar with certain stories doesn’t mean they should be ignored.
Doing the Interview
Before starting the interview, make sure the interviewee is comfortable and address any concerns they might have. This might involve a brief chat or perhaps sitting down over a cup of coffee or tea. A conversation before the interview can also make you aware of other interesting topics for discussion in the interview. Find somewhere quiet for the interview (for example, a living room or kitchen) where both of you can sit comfortably. Make sure that they are you have begun recording and that you have their written or verbal consent for recording the interview.
Perhaps the most important thing to be aware of when recording family stories is learning to listen. This can be challenging if you haven’t done an interview before. Be mindful of talking over the interviewee. Learn to take in what they are saying and resist the urge to interrupt or judge. Sometimes, views that directly contradict our own will be expressed. Instead of arguing, listen to what the interviewee is saying and perhaps try to use the interview as a chance to explore where those views came from.
If there is a topic that the interviewee is uncomfortable talking about, don’t force the issue. Sometimes, what isn’t said when discussing a topic can prove just as revealing, and maybe this is something that a second interview can follow up on.
After the Interview
Once the interview is done, the next step is to decide how best to write up the interview. There are a few different approaches. Some favour a word-for-word transcription. This has the benefit of including everything the interviewee said. However, this can be difficult and time-consuming, especially on longer interviews. Despite the various transcription software packages available, there is no shortcut to writing up an interview. Even the best of transcriptions will still require some revision in order to correct errors.
Another common approach is to write an interview summary. For example, you can divide the interview into segments and give a brief overview of what is discussed in each segment. While not as comprehensive as a full transcription, it does allow you to focus on the important topics in the interview, making it easy to locate the relevant sections later on.
It is important to provide the interviewee with either a copy of the interview recording or the transcript/summary, just so that they can be certain nothing they said has been taken out of context or allow them to retract sections they may have has second thoughts about discussing.
Supplementary research may also be necessary once you have decided on the best way of writing up the interview. Don’t be afraid to fact-check. Even the best prepared of interviewees can make mistakes and misremember details. Memory doesn’t work like a movie flashback, with every detail presented in chronological order. Often, some events or experiences might merge together or become mixed up. This extra research also gives you the opportunity to provide useful context to what has been discussed in the interview.
What seems obvious to you and the interviewee might require more explanation to someone else, especially future generations. In a family history context, this might apply to family nicknames or local names of certain locations.
Remember that each of us has our own approach to recording and writing up family stories. There are plenty of guides available, but ultimately, the only real way to learn is by doing it. If further assistance is required, there are some helpful resources, including training, available through the Oral History Society.
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Website: https://ryangenealogicalresearch.com/
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