An interview preserves a voice and reveals clues absent from indexes. Prepare a few themes rather than a list of dates.
The method, step by step
- Ask permission before recording and explain how the recording will be used. Begin with homes, occupations, celebrations and people in a photograph.
- Ask open questions about everyday life. Then establish whether the person witnessed the event or heard about it from someone else. Do not immediately correct a contradiction.
- Afterwards, record the interview date, the witness and sharing restrictions. Transcribe useful passages, preserve the original recording and turn each clue into a possible search.
- Compare dates and relationships with documents. Keep the original account separate from your later interpretation.
What to record
Prepare open questions: where did you live, who lived with you, what record could confirm that memory? Record the interview date and permission to record or share. Keep the witness’s words separate from your interpretation.
Record in your research log
- Interviewee
- date
- direct or inherited memory
- permission.
Sources & references
- National Archives and Records Administration ↗ (Resource review date : )