Hi Russ Wonderful and a treasure indeed. One actually does not know how long these video tapes will last. It is best not to wait too long. It is one reason the FHL is looking into preserving the information on their Microfilms before they deteriorate. There is an Oral Interview Script that one should follow when doing Interviews for Genealogical Purposes. I have a copy of one given at the State Genelogical Convention in FL several years back that was excellent (need to look that up in my Records). Dates and times are very important. One should set up a written outline to follow during the Interview and be sure to include 1. When, 2. Where and 3. Dates. Starting with Family History (family history that he/she knows happened and or that they heard of), their Childhood & Siblings, Youth or teen years, Middle Age as a Parent and their children, Grandparent/Grandchildren, and it is always good to have them relate any Important Historical Events (War, Depression and etc.) during their lifetime and gather their opinion. Interviews can vary as some people are reluctant to talk about their past and that means stating the questions trying to overcome the problem. Everyone did not have a pleasant Childhood or perhaps had an unfortunate marriage, loss of children or siblings or other tragic happenings. They will continue to talk only about happy times. So you need to focus in on something in that era that you know they really liked and hope that they will include the unknown. The Bottom Line in any Oral Interview is to RESEARCH the Information that you gathered to make sure it is accurate. Family tales have been know to change drastically over the years and many times the Pvt became a Major as time goes on. Memories are not always as good at an advanced age and sometimes even though they were there people interpret happenings differently.. Pat R
All true - I've seen mistakes written in stone, mistakes written in newsprint and I'm sure the majority of families have some history they would rather not discuss, which is fine. But if you can get the gestures, the nuances of speech, some of the surrounding environment, you can create a treasure. The basics have evolved from written transcripts to audio to video on tape to video in digital form but the *basics* are still important. In fact - as time allows, I want to create transcripts of some of my tapes and commit them to ink on paper. I'm fairly confident ink on paper will still be in use a hundred years from now. Various other media may or may not make it through various formats we don't even know about today. Russ From: [email protected] Reply-To: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [NYJEFFER] Five generations on a Videotape - Oral Interview Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2007 13:23:38 EST Hi Russ Wonderful and a treasure indeed. One actually does not know how long these video tapes will last. It is best not to wait too long. It is one reason the FHL is looking into preserving the information on their Microfilms before they deteriorate. There is an Oral Interview Script that one should follow when doing Interviews for Genealogical Purposes. I have a copy of one given at the State Genelogical Convention in FL several years back that was excellent (need to look that up in my Records). Dates and times are very important. One should set up a written outline to follow during the Interview and be sure to include 1. When, 2. Where and 3. Dates. Starting with Family History (family history that he/she knows happened and or that they heard of), their Childhood & Siblings, Youth or teen years, Middle Age as a Parent and their children, Grandparent/Grandchildren, and it is always good to have them relate any Important Historical Events (War, Depression and etc.) during their lifetime and gather their opinion. Interviews can vary as some people are reluctant to talk about their past and that means stating the questions trying to overcome the problem. Everyone did not have a pleasant Childhood or perhaps had an unfortunate marriage, loss of children or siblings or other tragic happenings. They will continue to talk only about happy times. So you need to focus in on something in that era that you know they really liked and hope that they will include the unknown. The Bottom Line in any Oral Interview is to RESEARCH the Information that you gathered to make sure it is accurate. Family tales have been know to change drastically over the years and many times the Pvt became a Major as time goes on. Memories are not always as good at an advanced age and sometimes even though they were there people interpret happenings differently.. Pat R ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message _________________________________________________________________ Get Hilary Duffs homepage with her photos, music, and more. http://celebrities.live.com