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Oral History



Christine,

I saw your posting on the list archives (I was out yesterday, & signed off
temporarily).  I took the OH workshop at SAA, and I agree strongly that you
should audio tape as well as video, for the preservation question as much as
the ease of transcription (not that audio tapes are that much better than
video).  Stick with the 60 or 90 minute tapes; the 120 tapes are a lot
thinner & more likely to break or get stretched out.

Some other things to ask about other than the biggies:

A) I'd probably have them give a short personal history as well; where they
were born & grew up, how they got involved in their professions, etc.  Not a
ton, but enough to give a sense of personality. I found at McGraw-Hill that
the OH collections helped me out enormously just tracing how the individual
themselves got to the company (as much as what they did once they arrived)

B) Obviously, be flexible - be prepared to follow up an interesting line of
thought or questioning, even if it's not what you planned on talking about,
as long as it relates to the subject at hand

C) maybe ask how the events of the world around affected the institution -
it can put the conversation in context if you ask how the attack on Pearl
Harbor affected CIA, or whatever.

Just my thoughts,

DS

______________________________________
Daniel Sokolow, Archives Coordinator
David Taylor Archives
North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System
155 Community Drive
Great Neck, NY 11021
mailto:dsokolow@nshs.edu

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