Oral History Interview Submission Checklist
Preparation:
1.Consent: Establish that both the interviewer and person being interviewed (interviewee) consent to the oral history interview being recorded and shared with Ro(u)ted by Our Stories. Click here to read the agreements you are consenting to by submitting to our archive as well as the rights you have in customizing who has access and what information you share.
2. Questions: Select interview questions from our list of sample questions. You can tailor your questions to focus on a specific topic /theme or pick questions across themes. If you plan to focus on a specific theme, make sure the person you are interviewing is comfortable answering questions surrounding the topic.
3. Restrictions: The participants can decide which communities they would like to have access to their interview on our archive. If you submit to our archive, you can choose the groups of people (i.e. only other people who have contributed stories to the archive, only other Indo-Caribbean folx, etc) who will have access. This can help the person sharing their story be more open in the interview, knowing it is not available to the general public. We carefully vet our users via application to ensure that the appropriate users are given access to the appropriate community groups. At any time you may change the restrictions on your oral history interview by contacting us, including removing it from the archive.
4. Anonymity: There are various levels of anonymity available on our archive. Participants may choose to go by a pseudonym/alternative name if they wish. Those who feel comfortable using their first and last name or only their first name can choose to do so. If you choose to go by a pseudonym, we will censor the names mentioned in your interview to ensure everyone's identity is protected.
5. Recording Set-Up: Make sure you choose a quiet location where the interviewee feels comfortable and follow our Recording Set-Up Guide. No fancy equipment is required to follow our simple guide except your smartphone! This will just help you ensure you have the highest quality audio possible with a few simple steps and recommendations.
5. Conducting the Interview: Start the interview by stating the names of the participants, the general location of the interview and the date you are recording on. We ask that you please keep interviews ideally under 45 minutes but no more than 60 minutes. The interviewer should have their list of questions ready and the interviewee should have been briefed on all the essential information before you begin recording. Try not to move around too much during the interview, as it may create distracting noise.
6. Submitting the Interview: Upload the file to a computer and rename it as the date, an underscore and the name of the interviewee. Both the Interviewer and Interviewee should be present when filling out the submission form, as we need consent and information from both parties. Provide us with any details about things you would like us to censor or cut out completely. If you have any further questions, feel free to contact us directly.
A comprehensive downloadable PDF guide will soon be published on our website.