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- Choosing a topic
- Background research
- Scope and goals
- Initial topic list
- Foundational interviews
- Grant funding and budgeting
- Online project planning resources
- Sample project planning documents
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When planning an oral history project,
the first step is to establish the overall topic and
central lines of inquiry. Write this down in a paragraph
or two.
Here are some questions you might want to consider
when framing your topic:
- What new information are you trying to learn
from the project?
- What time period will be covered, and what are
logical beginning and ending points? It can be
helpful to create a time line with key events you
intend to explore.
- How does this topic relate to your organization’s
goals? For example, will this project help to reach
new constituencies, address existing gaps in collections,
recruit new volunteers, or generate new funding
and resources?
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One of the most important tasks
in planning an oral history project is conducting background
research. Do a search on the Web and in your library
catalog to identify books, articles and Web sites that
can help you gain a general knowledge of the time period,
region, and topics to be covered. Everyone involved
in interviewing should read the same background materials.
For example, a high school teacher planning a class
project to interview World War II veterans might have
her students read Studs Terkel’s The
Good War: An Oral History of World War II.
As you do background research, make a note of what
most interested you and unanswered questions that
arose in your mind. Keep in mind that every geographical
area is unique. What perspectives might interviewees
in your area provide for understanding this topic?
How might a larger historical event such as the Depression
or the environmental movement have played out differently
in your area than the rest of the country? |
Once you have begun your initial
background research, you can start determining the
scope of the project. How long will the project last,
what resources will be necessary, and how many interviews
should be planned? It will be helpful to identify the
target audience: researchers, educators, students,
community outreach, or the general public?
There are many reasons for doing oral histories,
and you should think carefully about the primary
goal of the project. Is it intended to uncover new
knowledge? To teach oral and written communication
skills? To build relationships with older adults
through their life stories?
Add a paragraph on scope and goals to your description
of the project topic. |
When you have completed your background
research and have agreed-upon statements of topic and
goals, you should compile a list of subtopics. Do not
draft specific questions, because each interview will
differ according to the interviewee. Instead, outline
a set of subtopics that is short enough to fit on a
single sheet of paper, so that interviewers can glance
at it during the course of an interview. For example,
if the project covers the founding of a new community
skatepark, your outline might include subtopics such
as:
- roles of stakeholders: parks department, community,
skaters
- attitude of neighborhood (opposition?)
- type of park: ramps vs. bowl, skaters vs. bikers
- changes in plans over time
- funding issues
Add your topic outline to your paragraphs on topic,
scope and goals. Now you have a project description
for participants and other interested parties. |
After you have completed the basic
planning for the project, the first stage of actual
interviewing is to conduct foundational interviews.
Find individuals who represent the "institutional
memory" and have first-hand experience of the
topic over a long period of time, preferably from the
beginning point of your time line. A foundational interview
might be with the founder of a business, school, or
organization, or with a person who began his career
during an important period of transition in his or
her field.
Foundational interviews should provide a broad overview
of the topic or event and may generate interesting
new questions. You can use the results to fine-tune
the goals, methods and subtopics of the project.
Foundational interviews should also be a good source
of networking to identify other interviewees. And
finally, foundational interviews can be used for
demonstration purposes when promoting the project
or writing grants. |
Although grant funding is not necessary
for all oral history projects, it can be useful for
organization-building and enhancing the quality of
the interview series. Writing a grant proposal as part
of the planning process can help to sharpen the focus
of the project. Developing a grant budget and identifying
existing resources can enhance not only the proposed
project but also pave the way for future projects,
particularly if the grant funds new equipment, technical
resources, or staff training.
Resources on oral history grant budgeting:
Also, since granting agencies usually require letters
of support and pledges of assistance from project
partners, proposals can become a catalyst for developing
new relationships with individuals, organizations,
and the community at large. For example, an independent
oral history program might use a grant project to
secure a permanent repository agreement with a library
to provide cataloging and preservation services for
its interviews.
Many funding agencies also require a community outreach
component such as a public presentation of the interviews
or an oral history training workshop for teachers.
Thus, grants are an excellent way to strengthen project
planning as well as to promote wider dissemination
of completed interviews and other results of the
project.
Sources for oral history funding in Florida include:
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Emergency Management in Florida from Hurricanes
Andrew to Katrina
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