Extract from: Government of British Columbia Historical Archives Manual “Oral History” – continued– part 4 of 9.

Research

Research begins, in a sense, with the dawning of the idea of an interview, but there are specific types of research for oral history interviews which are emphasized here. In some cases, a certain amount of background digging will be necessary simply to establish the desirability of using oral history as opposed to other types of research. In other cases this need will be evident from the beginning and the effort can focus upon the subject and the interviews that will be conducted. There are usually at least two levels of research involved in oral history: general research on the subject and specific research leading to the selection and interviewing of particular people.

The historian using oral traditions finds himself on exactly the same level as historians using any other kind of historical material. No doubt he will arrive at a lower degree of probability than would otherwise be attained, but that does not rule out the fact that what he is doing is valid, and that it is history.
— Jan Vansina, Oral Tradition (1965)

Ideally, you should examine all available evidence on your subject in secondary and primary sources. Secondary sources will contain the results of previous studies and these can form the basis for research notes or a chronology indicating the major events and themes and the interpretation of them. If possible you should flesh these out with additional corroborative or supportive information from any primary sources which are available (paper documents, photographs. other recorded interviews, and so on). At the end of this phase, you should know the major facts and themes of your topic, as well as the gaps and questions.

While the sources of information are only limited by the skill, imagination and energy of the researcher, there are a number of likely routes to follow:

1. Books, articles or theses, by or about your proposed interviewee or about the subject matter of the interview.

2. Clipping files of newspaper articles which are maintained by larger libraries, and archives. These are often known as “vertical files” and will have clippings about people, subjects and places.

3. Archival collections of private manuscripts. These are usually indexed by name as well as subject.

4. Archives of government records which show potential interviewees in roles such as public employee, property owner, licensee, court defendant or appellant and so on.

5. Collections of photographs which may be useful for stimulating the memories of interviewees.

6. Newspaper indexes. In British Columbia, for instance, the Legislative Library has provided subject indexes to the major urban papers for the 20th century. The Provincial Archives has done the same for the 19th century.

7. Other oral history. Potential interviewees may already have been interviewed. Failing that, interviews with close associates or others with similar experiences may prove to be excellent sources.

Research might also include talks with experts in the field or long-term residents of an area. It may be a good idea to prepare a written report containing such basic information as a list of important events, dates, place names, well-known people, and a glossary of related terminology, special vocabulary and jargon. When interviewees have been selected, further research will be required to discover basic personal information, much of which will come from the interviewees themselves during preliminary interviews.

It is important for you to have absorbed the information well enough to be able to use it in a variety of ways. You should even be prepared to abandon it in the face of new evidence or views which may contradict things previously learned, and may prove to be more accurate, revealing or insightful.

During the research phase it is important to have an efficient system for storing and retrieving information. Every researcher, not only oral history interviewers, must devise a note-taking system. Be sure to be able to retrace your steps. Some piece of information which seemed relatively unimportant at first may assume greater significance as more is learned. Some combination of file cards and files or notebook will be appropriate for most researchers. If you lack confidence in your research skills, you will find research guides or handbooks in university and college bookstores and larger libraries.

Research, is an on-going process that begins long before the interviews and is not finished until the last interview is complete. The quality of the interviews and their future usefulness will depend to a great extent on the thoroughness and skill with which the research has been carried out.

Next : Part 5 of 9 - Selecting Interviewees

Previous: Part 3 of 9 - The Interviewer/Interviewee Relationship: Personality and Culture