What Is Oral History?
Oral history is a way to record and preserve your historical information pertaining to personal experiences or events that have occurred. It is a means to collect knowledge from past events in order to preserve the information for future reference. As stated in the article, What is Oral History,? “it is used to refer to formal, rehearsed accounts of the past presented by culturally sanctioned tradition-bearers; to informal conversations about ‘the old days’ among family members, neighbors, or coworkers; to printed compilations of stories told about past times and present experiences; and to recorded interviews with individuals deemed to have an important story to tell.”
I personally feel it is important to remember past events since it provides information from the past that we were not able to witness or experience ourselves. We tend to take the spoken word at face value, however, due to “the absence of audio- and videotape recorders--or digital recording devices--necessitated reliance on human note-takers, thus raising questions about reliability.” I’m sure for the most part the note-takers were jotting down exactly what was happening, however, should we always just assume what we read throughout a book holds true? It is pretty interesting to really think did all of this truly happen or did someone else add his/her own twist. . .
Conducting the Interview
While reading “Conducting the Interview” I found it very informative by providing assistance how to gather information through an interview. I feel it is beneficial to have the opportunity to speak with someone face to face in order to gain a true sense of their past by building this connection with one another. You are able hear the tone of their voice, view their facial expressions, make eye contact, and gain a true understanding of their story. When given the opportunity to interview someone for a project is completely different as if you were to read it out of a book. You are able to gain a better sense of that individual during a particular time period of their life.
Oral history is a way to record and preserve your historical information pertaining to personal experiences or events that have occurred. It is a means to collect knowledge from past events in order to preserve the information for future reference. As stated in the article, What is Oral History,? “it is used to refer to formal, rehearsed accounts of the past presented by culturally sanctioned tradition-bearers; to informal conversations about ‘the old days’ among family members, neighbors, or coworkers; to printed compilations of stories told about past times and present experiences; and to recorded interviews with individuals deemed to have an important story to tell.”
I personally feel it is important to remember past events since it provides information from the past that we were not able to witness or experience ourselves. We tend to take the spoken word at face value, however, due to “the absence of audio- and videotape recorders--or digital recording devices--necessitated reliance on human note-takers, thus raising questions about reliability.” I’m sure for the most part the note-takers were jotting down exactly what was happening, however, should we always just assume what we read throughout a book holds true? It is pretty interesting to really think did all of this truly happen or did someone else add his/her own twist. . .
Conducting the Interview
While reading “Conducting the Interview” I found it very informative by providing assistance how to gather information through an interview. I feel it is beneficial to have the opportunity to speak with someone face to face in order to gain a true sense of their past by building this connection with one another. You are able hear the tone of their voice, view their facial expressions, make eye contact, and gain a true understanding of their story. When given the opportunity to interview someone for a project is completely different as if you were to read it out of a book. You are able to gain a better sense of that individual during a particular time period of their life.