"Interviews with family members can reveal information not found anywhere else, but the amount of information you obtain depends on both the subject and your approach. Here are some tips for getting the most from your interview."
"Today’s computer’s and technology makes it easy to record, edit and publish interviews with relatives from around the world without you having to travel all over the place to get them. Although this article will focus on a Macintosh solution, the same principals can be applied to Windows."
"How can we get the really meaningful information, like their memories of learning to ride a bike or how big the hill was that they had to walk up both ways to get to and from school? Here is my solution, and many of you might have already discovered this."
"The photo collections that you have around -- or the photo albums that your relatives have -- are keys to transport people directly to times in their past."
"When interviewing family members, names of relatives and former neighbors can help jog the memory. The difficulty in some cases lies in knowing those names."
"Today is a good time to prepare your oral history interview tools and questions for the coming summer family reunions and similar gatherings. Many if not most of your grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc., that you want to interview will be at these events. If you plan ahead, you can schedule an hour or so in a private setting with them to record the interview."
"Re-interview family members after new information or records have been located. An obituary or a death certificate for a relative may bring to mind questions you did not think to ask Aunt Marge the first time."
