My advice is to have a written list of the topics and questions and record the interviews. The whole thing can be transcribed at a later date - and would be a good project for an intern. But the most important thing is to get the interview done and recorded so you don't lose the subject because they have moved, or are ill, or have passed on.

Cheers!
Dave

David Harvey
Senior Conservator and Museum Consultant
Los Angeles, CA

On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 9:13 AM, Frances Allshouse <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hello everyone,

I'm part of a small Virginia historical society that has recently decided to restart its oral history program.  I'm finding that one of the major stumbling blocks in years past was that those who conducted interviews never submitted transcripts.  I'd like to stress the importance of a full transcription, but having done them myself I know how time-consuming they are.  With that in mind, do you think a thorough tape log would be an adequate substitute?  Oral histories are not very useful unless you know what topics the tapes cover, but on the other hand you lose the information all together if you never do the interview for fear of the transcription process.  Any thoughts?

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