Oral History: Interviewer Training & Support

The vision of the Oral History Archive is to create a forum in which the community is actively engaged in the interviewing process. To this end, we are recruiting, training, and supporting interviewers who can extend this project into their local communities. We welcome any volunteers. This web page is set up to provide interviewers with the prerequisite tools and the ongoing support to contribute to the Oral History Archive.

To participate as an interviewer you must first view the interviewer orientation module and familiarize yourself with the resources available on this web page.

(Orientation Module and web page are currently under development)

Interview Guidelines
1. Customer satisfaction! This is a rather involved process and it will require considerable effort on the part of the interviewee (your customer). It is crucial that participation in the Community Legacy project is a rewarding and enjoyable experience for them. Make sure from the first contact to the last that they control scheduling, pace, content, and outcome of the interview. Be prepared to facilitate any reasonable request. Stay responsive and flexible. "Check in" regularly to make sure that all is well.
2. Rapport. Good stories are enhanced when you have a strong and deep working relationship with the interviewee. This is why we vigorously encourage interviewers to work from within their social network where possible. If the interviewee is not well known to you, take the time early on to engage in conversation and sharing a bit of your own story. During the course of the process, focus on your active listening skills.
3. Feedback. Be sure to keep the Clearinghouse and the interviewee abreast of progress and next steps.
4. Follow-through. Once you have agreed to be an interviewer, you are responsible for making sure that the process results in a suitable product, release forms are signed and filed, and on-loan recording equipment is returned safely and in a timely manner.