Elements and Performance Criteria
- Prepare for interviews with Community members
- Determine purpose and objectives of interviews
- Research background to topic and events
- Identify people (narrators) who may be able to provide information on topic and events
- Develop process for individual or group sessions with narrators according to topic and events to be covered
- Develop and check basic questions for interviews with narrators
- Obtain and check equipment, locations and other resources
- Obtain permissions from Cultural Authority to conduct interviews about Community history and culture
- Invite selected narrators
- Conduct interviews with Community members
- Explain oral history process to narrators to obtain their consent to record and use information provided
- Set up and test recording equipment for operation
- Identify recording media for later reference
- Follow cultural protocols and use appropriate language
- Use basic questions to initiate the interview
- Take notes to identify supplementary questions and to support recording media
- Manage interview process to obtain expected and unexpected information, including memories of incidents
- Support narrator to express memories and opinions in an uncritical and positive setting
- Provide positive feedback on the narrator's assistance
- Manage the environment and distractions to maintain a positive response from the narrator
- Manage session lengths to avoid tiring narrators and interviewer
- Transcribe and edit information
- Handle recorded media and transcripts to maintain recording quality and accuracy and security and privacy requirements
- Transcribe interviews according to agreements with narrators
- Provide draft written or oral transcripts to narrators for editing according to agreement with narrators
- Complete editing according to narrator’s wishes
- Record and manage information on narrator’s doubts or hesitancy on certain facts, and conflicting information between interviews separately from transcripts
- Store records