Step 1: Record Your Oral History

Oral History Guidelines

If you would like to participate as an interviewer or if you are faculty member who would like to incorporate oral histories into you course, we have created a training module and guide to walk you through the necessary steps. The training module includes the necessary informed consent documents as well as information on transcription and upload procedures.

You can access the training module at https://iu.instructure.com/courses/1935656. 

If you have questions about the training module, please contact Professor Jason M. Kelly at iahi@iupui.edu.

 

Record Your Story

In a traditional oral history, there is an interviewer and an interviewee. But, there are other ways to create oral histories as well. If you would like to record your own story, we invite you to record using your smartphone or tablet, a computer, or a recording device. Find the quietest room you can and place the recording device in front of you--ideally within two feet of where you are sitting.

How to Record on a Smartphone or Tablet

Many smartphones and tablets have built in voice recording apps. On iOS, the default app is Voice Memos. Android phones do not have a default app, but you can download one for free. Among these apps are Voice Recorder and Voice Record Pro.

How to Record on a Computer

Like Apple smartphones, their computers have the built-in voice recording app, Voice Memos. Windows machines use the built-in program, Voice Recorder. If you wanted to record a video of your oral history, you could create a recording using Zoom.

How to Record on an Audio Recorder

Each voice recorder is unique, so you should check your user's manual. To upload the file to The COVID-19 Oral History Project, you will need to transfer the recording to your computer.

Questions

In a traditional oral history project, interviewers ask question to interviewees, which often takes the form of a conversation. In this project, you will, in effect, be interviewing yourself. To help you with this process, we have created a set of questions for you to answer. These questions cover a range of topics that will help future researchers better understand how people experienced the COVID-19 pandemic.

The questions below are prompts to help you complete your own oral history. You can answer all of them or some of them. And, you can add your own questions. You do not have to complete questions in the order listed below.

You do not have to record your answers in a single sitting, but if you record your answers on multiple dates, please be sure to include the date and time at the beginning of any new recording sessions.

Oral histories are most beneficial when interviewees provide as much information and detail as possible. Interviewers often elicit this information through follow-up questions. Since you are interviewing yourself, you will not have the benefit of somebody asking you follow-up questions. So, be sure that your responses to the questions are as complete as possible.

Please remember that any answers you give will be included in a publicly accessible database, so please do not share any information that you would not like to be publicly available.

Be sure to turn on your recording device before you begin answering these questions.

Background Questions

• What is the date and time?

• What is your name, and what are the the primary things you do on a day-to-day basis (for example, your job, your extracurricular activities, etc.)?

• Where do you live, and what is it like to live there?

• When you first learned about COVID-19, what were your thoughts about it? How have your thoughts changed since then?

• What issues have most concerned you about the COVID-19 pandemic?

Employment

• Has COVID-19 affected your job? In what ways?

• Has COVID-19 changed your employment status? In what ways?

• What concerns do you have about the effects of COVID-19 on your employment and the economy more broadly?

• Has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the employment of people you know? In what ways?

Family and Household

• How has COVID-19 affected you and/or your family’s day-to-day activities?

• How are you managing day-to-day activities in your household?

• Has the COVID-19 outbreak affected how you associate and communicate with friends and family? In what ways?

• What have been the biggest challenges that you have faced during the COVID-19 outbreak?

• What have you, your family, and friends done for recreation during COVID-19 (feel free to include details about shows, games, books, etc.)?

Community

• How has the COVID-19 outbreak affected your community (Remember, you may be part of many communities including school, club, church, job, etc. You are welcome to speak about all of these communities)?

• How are people around you responding to the COVID-19 pandemic?

• Have you seen the people around you change their opinions, day-to-day activities, or relationships in response to the pandemic?

• “Self isolation” and “flattening the curve” have been two key ideas that have emerged during the pandemic. How have you, your family, friends, and community responded to requests to “self isolate” and “flatten the curve”?

• Has COVID-19 changed your relationships with family, friends, and community? In what ways?

Health

• In what ways do you think that COVID-19 is affecting people’s mental and/or physical health?

Information

• What have been your primary sources of news during the pandemic?

• Have your news sources changed during the course of the pandemic?

• What do you think are important issues that the media may is or is not covering?

Government

• How have municipal leaders and government officials in your community responded to the outbreak?

• Do you have any thoughts on how local, state, or federal leaders are responding to the crisis differently?

The Future

• Has your experience transformed how you think about your family, friends, and community? In what ways?

• Knowing what you know now, what do you think that individuals, communities, or governments need to keep in mind for the future?