Allison Taibinger

Click here for Allison Taibinger's interviewee's* page, and link to the interview.

*The interviewee will be addressed by the alias, "Participant A" for anonymity reasons.

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Allison Taibinger's Reflection   Allison Taibinger is a student collaborator on the On the Record: A Community History of Guelph project.

When I signed up for HIST*3450: The Uses of History, I had no idea the project that I would be a part of. I had considered lectures on museums or library work never considering oral history. Thinking back, I think it was a nice surprise to be able to be a part of a project that is not as mainstream as other history projects.   My favourite part about this project was the creation of primary sources as we recorded out interviews. This process involved more consideration than many of my other history projects had in the past since we would be recording another’s history. An important part of this project was the idea that though this was something we (students of HIST*3450) were putting together the control was entirely in the hands of those we interviewed. They had control and rights over their own history and were willing to share.[1]   Our timeline in creating this project was affected by time restraints of a twelve-week semester. We first had to learn about how to conduct an oral history and we learnt about the ethics that would have to be kept in mind throughout the entire process. We had to learn about the changes in oral history as it is dependent on technology. With access to the internet, we are able to create projects like On The Record: A Community History of Guelph and share what we have learnt from our interviewees. Taking into consideration as we create this project that the internet is a very public place and that every word we post can be found by anyone. As well as in five or ten years when software changes this site will update and there is the possibility that previous forms of recordings, such as mp3, may not be viable anymore.[2]

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An interesting aspect of this project was creating transcripts. I enjoyed listening to the conversation and picking up on things that I had not while sitting there during the interview, likely due to context and focus on my initial questions. Transcribing also gave me an appreciation for the recording because the words on this page as you read them will likely not be in the tone as I wrote them. In transcribing Participant A’s interview there are times where she laughs or makes a comment that without the audio would look out of place. Even though these audio recordings are important to the project many will look straight at the transcription rather than listen to the interview.^[3] There are so many pieces that are missed in transcription that I would encourage anyone to listen to even a part of the audio if there is not enough time for all, just to get an understanding of the context and feel the emotions being used.

There are many pros and cons to every project, and oral history is no different. While I enjoyed the experience and learned a lot I found my interview ending quickly when my interview’s responses were short and to the point, not deviating from the initial question. There were also some questions that could have given more though the information forgotten as Participant A was 99 years old.^[4] As well as I found the information I learnt in my recorded interview to be similar or the same in some instances to that of what I had been told when meeting my interviewee for the first time. Some of these stories could have been retold as they were remembered from the weeks before when I last asked about them rather than a memory of the events themselves (Freed, 2018).^[5]

If I had a chance to do this project again I would likely try for a longer timeline to work. Though I am happy with the results there were approximately two months from interview to completed project with the recorded interview taking place a few weeks after the initial meet. The longer time could have allowed for a more in-depth history of our interviewees and possibly more oral histories as we expanded the project.^[6]

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Endnotes

[1] Zembrzycki, Stacey. “Sharing Authority with Baba.” Journal of Canadian Studies 43, no. 1 (2009). https://doi.org/10.3138/jcs.43.1.219.

[2] Schneider, W. “Oral History in the Age of Digital Possibilities.” In Oral History and Digital Humanities, edited by Douglas A. Boyd and Mary A. Larson. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014

[3] Portelli, Alessandro. “The Peculiarities of Oral History.” History Workshop Journal 12 no. 1 (1981). https://doi-org.subzero.lib.uoguelph.ca/10.1093/hwj/12.1.96.