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Planning an Oral History Project

The considerable amount of time, energy and expense involved in collecting,processing, and preserving people's spoken memories means that carefulplanning is essential before an oral history project or interview series isundertaken. Interviewing hints provided by such writers as Baum, Ives, Ritchie,

and Yow, together with advice and assistance from the UCLA Oral HistoryProgram, will help to ensure interview content of high quality as well as clarity inthe sound recordings themselves. At the same time, oral history project plannersshould ask ten questions well before the first interview is scheduled.

1. What are the Objectives of the Project?

Project objectives should not be based on taping old-timers who recountthe glory and joy of the "good old days." Far more important are goals toaccumulate and preserve substantive historical data that augment andcomplement other forms of documentation relating to specific events,

activities, and periods in the lives of interviewees. Prospectiveinterviewees in virtually any project will include "elites"--those who werekey organizers and instrumental leaders in an organization or activity--butalso "non-elites" whose participation in and support for an activity, event,or organization was frequently of critical importance.

2. Who Will be Interviewed (and, Who Decides Who Willbe Interviewed)?

Project objectives lead to criteria for the selection of prospectiveinterviewees, which, in turn, determine the kind of information likely to beacquired during a series of interviews. An oral history project should seek

to gather information not only from the oldest and most frail tapingprospects, but also preserve the remembrances of those of any age whowill help to fulfill project goals. Not everyone is equally able or willing toprovide substantive information. While project planners may decide totape an agreed-upon number of hours with "must" interviewees (eventhough many of their contributions may be secondary or trivial), suchinterviews must be balanced by others that will preserve the integrity ofthe project.

As for who decides which interview prospects should be taped, a smallcommittee may work best. In that way the interviewer(s) may count onothers to share criticism resulting from a decision not to tape individuals

who are personal favorites ("You just can't do a project without taping. . .."), but have little or no information to contribute.

3. Will Sufficient Time be Available for the Interviewer(s)to Prepare for The Tape-Recorded Discussions?

There are, unfortunately, hundreds of miles of audio and video tapedemonstrating that inadequate interviewer preparation leads to low-


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o Sizing up the environment to identify a noise-free

place for taping.

o Suggesting the general areas of questioning at the

taping session(s) in the near future.

o Showing and explaining necessity for a signed legal

agreement.o Deciding on possible date(s) and time(s) for the taped

interviews.

As a rule, a single taping session should last no longer than two hours. Formore specific tips on conducting the interview, see the UCLA Oral HistoryProgram's Steps Toward Conducting a Good One-on-One Interview.

6. What Kind of Equipment and Supplies Should beUsed?

Today, a moderately-priced cassette machine may be used for collectingthe spoken word. In fact, open-reel field recorders are virtuallynonexistent. (Open-reel transcribing machines are no longermanufactured.) A cassette recorder, together with a reasonably goodbrand of tape (not the 3 for $1 discount store special!) and a reliableexternal microphone properly placed will result in a good quality audiorecording, particularly if the interviewer is attentive to eliminating asmuch extraneous environmental noise as possible.

Sixty-minute (C-60s) cassette tapes (thirty minutes per side) or ninety-minute (C-90s) cassette tapes should be used. Avoid C-120s! Some mayfind it to be a good idea to run off at least a minute's worth of blank tape

at the beginning of each side of each tape to allow room for intervieweridentification information (added after the interview is completed), and toavoid potential frustrations later when making a preservation master copyof the tape from the original cassette.

Always use an external microphone, a mike attached to a line cord whichplugs into a receptacle in the cassette recorder. Never use the internalmicrophone that is built into the recording machine because poor-qualitysound is the inevitable result.

Wherever possible, use an electrical power cord since an already nervous

interviewer will feel less harried over the possibility of weakening batteriesduring the taping sessions.

As a rule, a cassette recorder is not a good unit for taping music. If projectobjectives call for taping music (or recording other non-voice sounds), anopen-reel machine operating at a speed of at least 7 1/2 i.p.s. (inches persecond) should be used.
http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/ohp/intsteps.htmhttp://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/ohp/intsteps.htm


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10. What Products May Result from an Oral HistoryProject?

The basic product is, of course, a package containing interview tapes,transcripts, and indexes to provide future users with rich details about allor part of an interviewee's life and additional information about theenvironment in which the interview sessions were held. Moreover, withgood-quality sound recordings the interview tapes may provide the basisfor such uses as classroom instruction and media programming.

In summary, the more carefully an oral history project is thought out--long before the first interviews are conducted--and the better executedthe taped interviews, the greater the prospect for substantiveinformation and its sustained use.

Dale E. Treleven

Director, UCLA Oral History Program

Rev. January 1999

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