Local History Seminar

Peter Bartis, Folklife and Fieldwork: A Layman’s Introduction to Field Techniques (1986) on the Library of Congress website (click link above); also see the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage; The Southern Oral History Project is an excellent site, especially its “practical guide” and section and its resources page. Also, see Baylor’s Institute for Oral History, especially the Workshop on the Web. Review, as well, Linda Shopes, Making Sense of Oral History. Also, review the Cleveland Oral History Collection, especially our Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection.

Prior to class read the first 60 pages from Martha Norkunas, Monuments and Memory, available as 5 LARGE FILES:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
part 5

Describe how your typical interview might happen.  How will you find contacts?

What are the steps that you take to prepare? How much time do you a lot? Where will you meet the interview subjects?

What do you need to know in order to be competent?

How will you determine the focus of your interview?

Follow a few of the links. What more have you learned about method, presentation, technique, other issues?

I want you to explore the following two links:

http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/resources/rohotips.html

http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/resources/1minute.html

Describe effective interview techniques. What advice is most helpful?

Secondarily, should you create a list of questions prior to the interview? Why or Why not?

Finally, in the comments, answer the following questions.

1                    How might you locate interview subjects for your project? Who would you call? Who would be the ideal subject (not necessarily a name but a sort of person) and why would they be a good subject?  How can I help you locate that subject?

2                    What questions will you ask your informants? Compose a list of between 7 and 10 questions; list them in the order that you might ask them.