Mozilla Firefox pop-up requesting microphone access. My goal in testing was to see if this interface was reliable enough to produce archival quality oral history interviews and was simple enough so that interviewees would not be burdened with any technical set-up or problem solving in the process. While it is capable of doing more than just recording––you can splice together tracks, apply noise reduction, add music, etc.––I tested only the recording feature in order to gauge the quality of recording and ease of use from both the interviewer’s and interviewee’s perspectives. It is an interface that allows you to record VOIP (voice over internet protocol) conversations and, to a degree, enables audio processing within an internet browser. The following is part technology review and guide, part interview reflection, written after my first interview using Zencastr. It was also a great opportunity to test out Zencastr, a browser-based remote recording interface. After a brief email exchange, I thought that this would be a great opportunity to explore the history of food in Manitoba through the memories of an individual who had grown up with Manitoba food, but was now physically distant from it. Having a reliable tool in place before the occasion arises is good planning.Īlthough we had agreed that we could pause interviewing, we were contacted by a Winnipeg expat in Halifax who was interested in being interviewed. For a variety of reasons, you will not always be in the same place as those you want to speak to. At the Oral History Centre we’ve used phone hybrids and Skype extensions to do remote interviews in the past, even when we didn’t have to stay six feet apart. For the oral historians attempting to document the experiences of our current moment in time, there is no other way. The Oral History Society has published a comprehensive list of considerations for interviewing at this time, that is well worth visiting before deciding that remote interviewing is the best way to proceed.īut, face to face interviewing isn’t always possible, even in times when we’re not bound by physical distancing for the good of our collective health. There are other things that need doing in the meantime. Because doing oral history involves so much non-interviewing work, I lean toward the opinion that if you can wait to do an interview in person, do. But, as much is on hold for us right now due to COVID-19, much continues: listening to the 53 interviews we’ve already conducted, transcribing (thank you to our research assistants!), producing story maps and podcasts, and research for the book that will come from this. Since these are logistic impossibilities for the time being, it was easy for us to agree to pause interviewing.Ĭertainly, none of us planned for year three of our project to proceed amidst a global pandemic. As part of the Manitoba Food History Project interviews are conducted, for the most part, in a food truck while our interviewees cook a dish that is meaningful to them, or by traveling to more remote areas of Manitoba, like Churchill, to interview people where they live. The “Manitoba Food History Truck” experiential learning class has been cancelled, too. The festivals and conferences we planned to attend have been cancelled or postponed indefinitely. The Manitoba Food History Truck is parked in the secured storage facility where, apart for some spring-maintenance it has been all winter. I have been working from home for seven weeks now. Here Kimberly Moore of the University of Winnipeg’s Oral History Centre reviews Zencastr, a tool that makes remote interviewing possible. The field has long prioritized in-person interviews, but the current pandemic has led some to adapt practices to our current environment. Hitting Pause and Hitting Record: Remote Interviewing with ZencastrĪs we have collectively hit pause on many routines, projects, and plans, oral historians are considering whether it’s time to pick up the recorder again, and if so, how to conduct interviews from a social distance.
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