Planning

Students with cameras and a recorder interviewing a woman in front of a barn

Members of the Watsonville is in the Heart Links to an external site. team interviewing Antoinette DeOcampo Lechtenberg.

Preparing Questions

Once you have identified your narrator, we will be working in class to draft questions. Aim to limit your interview to an hour and your questions to 10-15.

Developing Oral History Questions Tip Sheet Links to an external site. (UCI Libraries:  Orange County & South East Asian Archive Center)

Remember questions are a starting point. Your narrator may have other topics they want to focus on or may shift their focus as the interview proceeds.  Interviewers can show respect for their narrators by working collaboratively and making decisions together about the topics covered in the interview.

Recording & Transcript

We will be using Canvas Studio to record interviews. Canvas Studio is available in Canvas through your laptop or phone. This is discussed in more detail in the upcoming Recording in Canvas Studio page.

Once your recorded interview is in Canvas Studio, you can use the captions to create a transcript.  This is discussed in more detail in the upcoming Review Captions & Download Transcript page.

Consent Form

Tell your narrator why you are interested in interviewing them and how you plan to use their interview. For this assignment, interviews will be turned in to the instructor and discussed in class with other students.  

Review the consent form Download consent form with your narrator.  Answer any questions and sign the form together. Scan the signed form to turn in for your assignment and share with your narrator.

Consent form template (copy and save) Links to an external site.

We recommend reviewing informed consent at the beginning of your recording as well.  You can do this by making the following statement at the start of the recording:

 My name is [interviewer] and I am interviewing [narrator name] on [date].  Can you confirm you have granted permission for your oral history recording, a transcript of the interview, and any photographs taken during the interview to be used for class discussions and assignments?