After The Interview
Information Sheet
6
After The Interview
This sheet will explain
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Consent forms
Copyright
What to do next with
recordings
How to organise
material
Aside from thanking your subject verbally immediately after the interview
you carried out, it is polite and appreciative to write a formal thank you
letter. In this correspondence, you should outline what you are going to do
next in your oral history project (e.g. what are going to do with the
recordings? Will there be an exhibition or public display?) and further reiterate the aims and objectives of the project.
Do not forget to provide your subject with your full contact details, should
they want any further information or have any questions.
Consent
The rights of the interviewee must be protected. A consent form must be
signed by both parties (interviewee and interviewer) before the collected
recording or material can be used in any way. These can either be an
agreement for a recording to be used in any way or a list of the ways a
recording can be used.
If the consent form authorises a number of ways in which material can be
used, this also gives the subject the chance to state which parts of their
testimony cannot be made public and if they are not happy with their
words being used in any format. For example, the subject may be happy
with the recording being used as a sound file on a website but not being
published word-for-word in a local newspaper and may want certain
names of personal details left out.
A consent form is also where you can determine whether any access
restrictions need to be placed on a part of or a whole recording. You will
need to check that any material being seen, heard or read by any other
person does not breach the Freedom of Information Act or the Data
Protection Act.
Copyright
The copyright on any recording or material created as a result of an oral
history interview must be fully understood as misuse of this material could
lead to prosecution. Even if you are carrying out your project on behalf of a
group or organisation, copyright law is personal and not corporate and so it
will be you only who will be held responsible for a breach in this legislation.
There are two copyrights present in an oral history recording:
1. One copyright belongs to the person making the recording (or the
organisation they are representing).
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2. One copyright belongs to the interviewee and their heirs since it is their
words that are being spoken.
The duration of either of these copyrights is fifty years from the end of the
year in which the person has died.
If a recording is used in a public place (such as an exhibition, project launch
or on a website), permission from both copyright holders must be obtained.
In the same way, the names of both copyright holders must be
acknowledged, as discussed earlier in this sheet.
Please be aware that anything else used in an oral history recording, such as a poetry reading, photograph or
piece of music also holds it own separate copyright. This must be cleared or permission gained before the
material is used in the ways mentioned above.
What do I do next with any recordings made?
It is vital to take all steps possible to keep any material safe. This includes
transferring anything in a digital format to a computer that will be able to
cope with the file size.
Always keep another copy of a recording in a different place other than
on a computer as well. You could consider saving to disk (e.g. DVD or CD)
and keeping a paper copy if you have decided to create a transcript of
the interview. Only when this has been done can the memory card on the
equipment you have been using be wiped ready for the next recording.
You must at least write a synopsis of each interview giving the main themes and points covered. You can also
think about producing a full word-for-word transcript. This will come in useful but is time consuming and so not
essential if you do not feel you have enough time left in your project work plan.
How do I organise my material?
First of all, remember to never ever edit the material that you have collected. This will more than likely change
the context and meaning of the testimony that will have taken a lot of time to find and collect. This is
completely the opposite result that oral history should produce, given the frequent spontaneity and irregularity
of speech. However, it is reasonable to check any details against surviving records in archives and libraries.
If you have used the testimony of more than
one interviewee in your project, it is a good
idea to give each a personal file labelled with
the person’s full name, date of birth, date and
place of interview, type of equipment and
number of discs used and how the recording is
being stored.
Each file should be given a unique name or
reference number, which will help in the event of creating a series and knowing where everything you have
worked on already is. It is sensible to include any consent forms and transcripts, along with any other material
used (e.g. photographs taken) in each personal file.
Further use of material
The West Yorkshire Archive Service has a vast experience of conducting oral history projects and has had a
large amount of successful with each project. For example, our NowThen project documented the memories
of members of the LGB (Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual), Irish and West Indian communities. This project first began
by collecting and creating personal accounts of Bradford, Beeston and Dewsbury but has continued to grow
and develop. You can find all about NowThen on the project website at www.nowthen.org.
It is exciting to try to think outside your project guidelines, as it could lead to future projects and developments.
Why not see your project as an opportunity to promote community inclusion? This is your chance to speak to
local groups and put forward the importance of your project in local publication and the local media.
The use of the material you have gathered and created for your oral history project is really down to personal
choice. However, try to determine where your project can be shared and also enjoyed with your local and the
wider community.
This information sheet is part of a series produced by the West Yorkshire Archive Service on Oral History. For a copy please visit www.wyjs.org.uk or
nowthen.org.
WYAS have also produced guides in other areas for a full list visit www.wyjs.org.uk