November 8, 2016.

• Interviewing
  • Tools
    • Video?
      • Trickier, but better
      • Even cell phone do a pretty good job
    • Audio only?
      • Any cell phone
      • Try to get a microphone
      • Jim likes a dedicated audio recorder (ICCHIP) — long recording time, low battery use
    • Over the phone?
      • Use Skype to get a recording (only interviewer needs to be using Skype — it’s a regular phone call for interviewee)
  • What do you want?
    • Facts
    • Stories
    • Names, relationships, nicknames
  • Preparation
    • Appointments — spontaneous or scheduled?
    • Groups or individuals?
    • Memory prompts, like photos, scrapbooks, military medals, etc
    • Genealogy charts
    • Practice your tech!
    • Send questions?
    • Think about a spot with good sound quality — no refrigerator, dogs, babies, etc
  • Take notes or not?
    • May be distracting
    • Remind you to go back and followup on something interesting
    • Keep low-key
  • Questions
    • Gather from family members?
    • Focused or free-range?
  • Afterwards
    • Thank you
    • Transcribe?
      • Insurance against technology changes
      • Backup
      • Searchable, copyable text
      • “Lose” the voices and faces
      • Hire a service
    • Edit?
    • Add results to gen software.  Send printout?
    • Schedule another interview?  Some people might be more forthcoming the second time
  • Alternatives to interview
    • Be ready to capture spontaneous family chats?
    • For a special birthday or anniversary, gather questions for the guest/s of honor and have them answer them
    • Storyworth — a service that asks one question a week: https://www.storyworth.com/
• Resources
  • Tips
    • http://genealogy.about.com/od/oral_history/ss/oral_history.htm
    • https://www.geni.com/blog/7-tips-for-interviewing-relatives-383809.html
    • https://www.legacytree.com/blog/9-tips-interviewing-relatives
    • http://reminiscenceandlifereview.org/educational-tools/12-tips-for-interviewing-relatives/
    • Extreme Genes Podcast: http://extremegenes.com/episode-163-interviewing-tips-with-carolyn-tolman-of-legacytree-com/
    • http://extremegenes.com/?s=interviewing
  • Questions
    • http://www.familytreemagazine.com/article/20-questions
    • http://genealogy.about.com/cs/oralhistory/a/interview.htm
    • http://www.ancestry.com/cs/learning/20110911InterviewJSS
    • http://legacyproject.org/guides/lifeintquestions.pdf
    • https://storycorps.org/great-questions/
  • Transcription — Julia has used Scribie.com