{"id":497,"date":"2013-05-23T19:19:13","date_gmt":"2013-05-23T23:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hydegenealogy.org\/blog\/?page_id=497"},"modified":"2013-05-28T16:32:59","modified_gmt":"2013-05-28T20:32:59","slug":"tips-on-collecting-family-stories","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.hydegenealogy.com\/?page_id=497","title":{"rendered":"Tips on Collecting Family Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tips on Collecting Family Stories<\/h3>\n

By Dan Hyde<\/p>\n

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A good way to collect family stories is to visit older family members in the quiet of their home and interview them. I have tried to collect stories at reunions and at other family events. However, there are usually too many distractions and people can\u2019t think of stories. Reunions are great places to ask people to be interviewed later.<\/p>\n

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When I visit a person\u2019s home I take a digital camera. I take pictures of the family and their home. I also ask if they have any old photos or documents, e.g., letters, scrapbooks, old newspaper clippings, old military papers, or old family deeds that I could see. People are very reluctant to let you borrow these to copy and for good reasons. For a variety of reasons, people just can\u2019t be trusted to return them. What I do is use my digital camera to take pictures of each old photo and document in full view of the owner. That way the owners never let their precious photos or documents out of their sight.<\/p>\n

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I also take a digital recorder. Now many of you may remember the old tape recorders. The newer digital recorders are so much more compact and convenient. Sell that old tape recorder at a garage sale and buy a digital recorder. Below is a picture of my Sony IC recorder to show you how compact and small it is. And the digital sound quality is much better that the old tape recorders. Mine records in stereo and is capable of recording high quality sound more that 21 hours. That\u2019s plenty of time for recording several interviews. In fact with such a large capacity, at family events I set mine in the middle of the dinning room table and let it record the whole dinner-time conversation.
\n\"Sony<\/a><\/p>\n

These digital recorders are sold at Staples and other electronic stores starting at about $40. You want one that records in MP3 format and plugs into your computer\u2019s USB port. That way it is easy to transfer to your PC or Mac and you don\u2019t need to perform any conversions on the digital sound format. The Sony Digital Flash Voice Recorder ICD-PX312<\/a> is a nice model with these features and sells on Amazon.com for about $50.<\/p>\n

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Once you have the sound files in your computer, you can edit them and save them in your genealogy program.<\/p>\n

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I usually ask for permission to record the interview. I show them the tiny digital recorder, press the \u201cRecord\u201d button, and place the recorder nearby. No big microphone pushed in their face. In a few minutes, the person usually forgets that the tiny, nonintrusive digital recorder is there and starts to open up.<\/p>\n

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Rather than directly ask the individual for stories, I ask a series of open-ended questions that might bring out the stories. Don\u2019t ask questions that can be answered in one word, e.g., \u201cDid you attend high school?\u201d Ask questions that are open ended such as \u201cWhat do you remember from high school?\u201d \u201cAny funny incidents?\u201d \u201cAny school accomplishments you are proud of?\u201d \u201cWho was your favorite teacher? And Why?\u201d<\/p>\n

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I first ask questions about them and their immediate families. If the person starts a story, I encourage him or her to continue. Depending on the situation, I might ask the following questions to bring out stories:<\/p>\n

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