Interviewing in Community Oral History

The interview is the anchor of an oral history project. The fourth book in the five-volume Community Oral History Toolkit guides the interviewer through all the steps from interview preparation through follow-up. It includes guidance on selecting interviewees, training interviewers, using recording equipment, and ethical issues concerning the interviewer-interviewee relationship. Packed with instructive case studies, Volume 4 offers concrete practical examples and advice for issues such as pre-interview research, developing interview questions and points for guiding discussion, ideal interview settings and conditions, strategies for stimulating interviewees’ memories, acceptable communication techniques and behavior throughout the interview process, and rounding out interview documentation with supplementary materials and contextual information.

About the Author

Mary Kay Quinlan, Nancy MacKay, Barbara W Sommer