Choose one part of a life
“Tell me about the old days” is a warm invitation, but a difficult question. Which days? Where should someone begin? Choose a smaller subject for your first conversation: a childhood home, the walk to school, a first job or a meal in an old photograph. You can learn plenty in half an hour.
Write down five questions you would like to ask. Who lived with you? What happened first in the morning? Who did the cooking? How did you get to school or work? Which neighbours did you see most often? Keep the list nearby, but let the answers take you somewhere you had not expected.
A single photograph can be enough to start. Ask what your relative notices before asking for names. Leave the rest of the album for another day; there is no need to identify everyone at once.
Agree on recording and sharing
Explain what you have in mind before turning on a recorder: “I would like to hear about your childhood home. Shall we talk for half an hour? May I record it? We can keep it within the family and discuss any wider use later.” The Oral History Association recommends informed consent and clear permission for public use.[1][2]
Agreeing to talk, to be recorded and to appear on a website are separate decisions. Make a note of who may hear the recording, anything to keep private and how your relative can contact you about its use. Allow them to skip a question or stop.
If recording is unwelcome, ask about taking notes instead. Read back the important names and points before leaving. Label a summary as a summary; quotation marks should be reserved for words you actually recorded.
Follow the details
When someone says life was busy, ask what they did first on a busy morning. When they mention moving house, ask how the furniture travelled, who stayed behind and what they remember doing on arrival. Small actions often lead to details that a broad question misses.
“Was it because you were poor?” supplies an explanation before your relative has offered one. Try “What led to the move?” instead. Give pauses some room, and accept “I cannot remember” without pressing for an answer.
If a date is uncertain, ask whether they were at school or whether a younger sibling had been born. These clues may narrow the period later. Keep words such as “perhaps” and “I was told” in your notes; they tell you how the person knows something.
A worked example: what did they see themselves?
Consider this fictional interview. Aunt Chen says her grandfather worked at the docks and always wore a blue jacket. When asked more, she explains that her mother told her about the job. The jacket is something she remembers seeing as a child.
Make two notes: “Dock work: Aunt Chen repeating her mother’s account; not yet checked” and “Blue jacket: Aunt Chen’s own childhood memory.” A staff register or letter might help with the job. Neither finding nor failing to find it changes where the memory of the jacket came from.
If another relative remembers warehouse work, keep both accounts. They may describe different jobs or different parts of the same workplace. Ask about the location, journey to work or colleagues before deciding.
Leave time to check names
Before finishing, ask whether there is something you have not asked about that your relative wants to tell you. Check unfamiliar names and place names while you are together. Ask someone to write a name down if possible. “Uncle” also needs a little explanation: whose uncle?
Agree on what happens next: a copy of the recording, a short summary or a transcript they can review. Stop when they are tired. If a subject has been upsetting, check how they would like that passage handled.
For the recording itself, make a short test and listen back before you begin. Put the phone somewhere stable. After a break, say that you are resuming, so the interruption is clear when you return to the file.
Make the recording easy to find again
Give the interview a stable reference, such as Interview 03, and note its date, participants, subject and agreed uses. Keep the original audio separate from edited copies and transcripts. Save a backup elsewhere and open it to check that it works.
You need not transcribe everything that evening. A short index will help: “12:20 — move to River Street; 18:00 — furniture shop.” Use brackets for unclear words and your own explanations. Check automatically transcribed names against the recording and other information you have.
Finish with two or three questions tied to a passage: “What was the furniture shop called? Interview 03, 18:00. Ask about old envelopes next time.” Note which photographs you used and whether anyone else joined in. You now have somewhere specific to begin the next conversation.
Sources
Explore these institutions’ guidance and check collection coverage and original records.
- Oral History Association: Best Practicesoralhistory.org
- Oral History Association: Core Principlesoralhistory.org