Instructions for Interviewers

Equipment Preferences

Most preferred format:

High-definition (HD) Camcorder using MiniDV tape cartridge.
Standard-definition (SD) Camcorder using MiniDV tape cartridge.

Other acceptable video formats:
HD or SD Camcorder using DVD storage media
Digital 8 or 8mm
SVHS, VHS, or VHS-C
3/4" Umatic format
All of these can be converted in our lab to web-accessible video.

Preferred:

Audio recorder using .wav format. This is a high-quality audio format.
96 kHz/24 bit preferred

Acceptable:

Audio recorder using .mp3 format
Any digital format on a CD
Analog cassette tapes.

Realia

Encourage your narrators to bring any realia or artifacts of their library careers. Take pictures with your digital camera of your interviewee and their mementos.

Ask your interviewees to bring pictures of their libraries. Scan these as jpegs.

Pictures of your narrators and their realia will make the site visually arresting, and provide some context to each interview.

Before conducting the interview:

No matter what equipment you use, you must rehearse with it before your scheduled interview. There is nothing worse than getting home from an interview to find your recording is useless.

1. Find out how close the microphone should be placed to your narrator. Experiment with different practice narrators. For example, if you I have a loud, booming voice, you will need to place the mic much closer to your narrator than to yourself.
2. Experiment with different surfaces to place the mic. Often narrators will tap the table to emphasize points creating loud booms on the recording. You may find it best to place the mic on a cushioning cloth such as a towel or a piece of packing foam.
3. Read the instructions for your recording equipment. For example, some recorders that use USB flash drives have very specific instructions on how to eject the drive.
4. Know the amount of recording that will fit on your media. For example, know how much audio your flash drive will hold.
5. Listen for any background noise. Are there appliances that are humming? Are there fans that can be switched off? Are there any household pets that need to be relocated?
6. Mute your cellphone.
7. Make the space comfortable.
8. Have some water within reach to drink. Save eating food until after the interview is completed.
9. Have the interviewee fill out the Volunteer Interviewee Form. This provides the project with a standard set of biographical metadata to code each interview with. Here is a printable copy of the form to use if you do not have Internet access at the time of the interview.
10. Have the interviewee fill out the Oral History Release Form.

During the interview:

1. Begin each interview with the Opening Script.
2. Have an outline of chosen questions ready. There are suggestions under Question Bank.
3. Listen to your narrator. Be prepared to follow their lead and abandon your pre-selected questions.
4. Listen to your narrator. Give them time to reminisce and follow up on their own stories.
5. Remember to use prompts, such as "Can you tell me more?" Remember the five w's and the one h when you ask follow-up questions: who, what, when, where, why, and how.
6. It is often useful to follow a funneling approach in asking questions: move from the general to the specific.
7. Channel Terri Gross on Fresh Air.
8. Have fun!
9. Watch the clock and note when your recording medium will be full.

After the interview:

A) Interview recorded on camcorder:

Mail the following to the Project office:

1. MiniDV tape, or other storage media used (SVHS,VHS, VHS-C, DVD, etc)
2. Paper or digital copy of the Narrator Information Sheet
3. Paper or scanned digital copy (with signature) of the Oral History Release Form
4. Paper or digital copy of the Context Notes Sheet.

B) Audio-only interview:

1. Mail the following to the Project office:
2. CD or DVD with audio recording (please keep a copy for yourself as a backup)
3. Paper or digital copy of the Narrator Information Sheet
4. Paper or scanned digital copy (with signature) of the Oral History Release Form
5. Paper or digital copy of the Context Notes Sheet.
6. Indicate whether you are willing to transcribe the recording. (Transcribing your own interview is a huge help and it is much easier and accurate for the interviewer to transcribe than a non-interviewer.)

If you are willing to transcribe the recording, consider using the following free application: http://www.nch.com.au/scribe/ It creates hotkeys on your keyboard to control play-back and incremental rewinds. When you have finished the transcription, it may be emailed separately. Please make a backup of the original digital file prior to beginning the transcription.

Address to mail materials:

Arro Smith

School of Information

1 University Station D7000

Austin, TX 78712-0390