Wisconsin Public Television: Wisconsin Stories: Oral history tool kit

What is an Oral History Interview?
Oral history collects people’s memories and personal commentaries through interviews recorded in audio or video format. The interviewee may be a family member, neighbor, civic leader, artist, teacher, professional or some other individual who participated in events of a historical nature.

Contact the Wisconsin Veterans Museum Research Center to learn more about how to conduct and preserve oral histories. The Wisconsin Veterans Museum (WVM) offers its assistance to state teachers and community leaders in both using and recording the compelling personal stories of veterans. If planning an interview project, please contact the Archives Collections Manager for suggestions and assistance.

Why conduct oral history interviews?
Oral histories capture the experiences to create a primary source document to enhance archives, libraries and artifact collections. Oral histories are created for present and future use by students, teachers, researchers and others.

Audio Interview
Oral histories should be recorded on 60-minute minidiscs or mid-high quality, low noise, high output, polyester-based audiocassettes. Make a copy of the minidisc or cassette after the interview; the original recording should be labeled master.

- Pack more minidiscs or tapes than you think you will need. Open the packages before the interview.

- Be comfortable with your equipment; practice using the machine.

- Use two external microphones — one for you and one for the interviewee.

- Use the power cord (you may need an extension cord) instead of batteries.

- Label your interviews with Name, Date, Tape #, Side 1 or 2.

- When you begin the interview, note the time you will need to turn the tape over or start a new tape.

- Press the pause button before depressing record. Start and stop your interview using the pause to avoid hard starts and stops in the recording.

- Start new tapes (or new sides) by saying the person's name, tape # and side.

- When finished, remove the plastic tabs from the tape to avoid accidental erasures.

Video Interviews

Videotaping interviews adds a new dimension to oral history. The final video product can juxtapose an interviewee to an object or setting that is the subject of the interview, such as a battlefield, where the combination of sight and sound allows for a clearer perception of the interviewee or subject. It also facilitates the use of visual enhancements, such as photographs and maps.

Not every interview is suited for a video format. Various factors come into play for determining the suitability of video recording interviews. Some of these include inappropriate subject matter, inaccessible interview locations, and special lighting and sound adjustments often required for certain settings. In addition, without at least one assistant, it is nearly impossible to run a video camera and conduct a good interview.

The medium of video recording also places greater responsibility on the interviewer, who must now be a director as well. The video camera should not be used simply as a tape recorder that also takes motion pictures. This creates what is known as the "talking heads" syndrome and does not take full advantage of the medium.

Assessing the interviewee's discomfort level before a video camera is critical; for some, the experience is too overwhelming and results in "stage fright." A final consideration is that the intimacy and openness achieved in a one-on-one interview is nearly impossible, primarily because of the distractions caused by a video crew. Unless these factors are addressed at an early stage of the process, the quality of the oral history product will be less than satisfactory.

Check with a local university or historical society to provide some equipment as well as a trained video crew. Most audiovisual offices have video recording equipment, using professional production-quality 3/4-inch and 1-inch tapes. These choices offer the best quality recording but require more resources than a standard VHS camera.

You can use a portable videocassette recorder with a VHS format. This is the most widely available format and the easiest to transfer to other tape formats. Digital tape and 8mm or high 8mm also can be used.

When making a video, mount the camera on a tripod and position it a few feet from your interviewee. Focus primarily on the interviewee's face and avoid frequent use of the zoom feature on your camera.