Transcribing Your Oral History Interview

Today you are going to begin transcribing your oral history interview!  Here are some tips to make it easy:

• Write on ONE side of the paper.
• Skip lines between each question and each answer. This will make it much easier to read.
• Use script or print — whatever is easiest for you and easiest to read.
• Number the pages and (ideally) keep them stapled together.
• Write down your subject’s words as accurately as you can.
• You will probably have to listen more than once to some bits of the interview to get the exact words.  Get comfortable rewinding your recorder just a bit to do this.
• If you can’t understand a word, try to figure it out using context clues (the rest of what they are saying). If you still are having trouble, ask a teacher to listen. And if she/he can’t figure it out just put in “unintelligible” and move on.
• You may leave out “um” “er” and words like that. Put ellipses (…) in where you do.
• Don’t worry about spelling.  Just get the words down so that you can read them when you go back to the transcript. (You will take care of the spelling later in the process.)

Remember to use the same format that was used for our model interview with Yolanda Ortiz:

Yolanda Ortiz: My name is Yolanda Ortiz Rodriguez.  In the Spanish countries you use the two last names.

Stephanie Fins: And what do the two names represent?

YO: My father’s is Ortiz, and my mother’s is Rodriguez.

SF: OK and your father’s name comes before your mother’s name.

YO: In Puerto Rico.

SF: In Puerto Rico, and in many Spanish speaking countries.  So that’s why when you tell me your name I can figure out who your father was – his name at least – and who your mother is.  Ok so where did you come from?

YO: I was born in New York.  I come from a group of parents that they came in the early 50’s when a group of Puerto Ricans immigrated to the United States.  They all came to New York, my parents met here in New York City.