Véronique Ginouvès, MMSH

Maison méditerranéenne des sciences de l’homme

veronique.ginouves@univ-amu.fr

● Archiving  and  disseminating    

● sound  archives  –  5:  Collecting  sound  data  for  digital    

storage  and  dissemination  

Our  program  

1.  Processes  and  procedures  in  digitizing  sound  materials  

2.  Managing  sound  data    3.  Analysis  and  treatment  of  sound  data  

4.  Valorising  digital  sound  archives  

5.  Collecting  sound  data  for  digital  storage  and  dissemination  

 3.  Collec0ng  sound  data  for  digital  storage  and  dissemina0on    

 1.  How  to  create  a  new  sound  collection;  2.   Organizing  field  recordings  and  preparing  

a  maintenance  verification  and  control  panel.  

3.  Successful  sound  recording  and  recording  interviews.  

Why  record  ?  - Society is not founded uniquely on what is written; information is also transmitted orally : know-how, stories, songs, music, languages… - Paper archives are not sufficient in order to understand history: details of daily life, anecdotes, "secrets" ... allowing a better understanding of contexts... - History has been made as much by anonymous people (the "forgotten" people of history) as by those whose names we know or elites, each one brings indispensable complements to our knowledge, orally... - The reconstitution of the past is also done through representations given by witnesses or through their emotions... - The spoken word gives life to an event, a story, archives…

The preservation of sound recordings from the field in a central archive : What uses ?

-  Produce a document just like in written, audiovisuel, or iconographic ways -  Rapidly and efficiently gather information avoid taking notes, a

source for errors -  Secure data that cannot be gathered other than orally

linguistic practices, lived, affective, representations of symbols, or imaginary, sensitive subjects for which no printed archive exists, music that has never been transcribed

-  Give a voice to anonymous speakers -  Fill in gaps in sources printed and photographic

Our  programme  

-  Methods of collecting -  Recording interviews -  Valorising interviews

Methods for preparing for speech collection

−  Define a problematic

−  Learn about one's subject

−  Choose "privileged" informers

−  Respond to the problematic with some hypotheses

−  Develop a "survey" table

−  Establish the physical or institutional entities charged with the collected archives and the interactions of the partners in the project

−  Prepare a use and diffustion for the archives

During preparation, these steps, because they are relational, may modify each other …

According to a project's goals, means (human and financial), and partners, it can be more or less complex to put into place

The writing of a set of specifications is crucial and necessary; we will construct one together during our time together.

Preparing one's survey

Engaging in a survey is a parallel activity to the production of data. We are going to actively prepare this terrain.

Choosing our subject It is good practice to begin by being guided by a question, and then to pass from the theme to the survey question. => by reformulating the question from readings and experience => by limiting the "appropriate populations" => The question should echo your own experience, journey, in order to become a real interview subject The path of our theme will be the object of our survey.

A question is always evolving

During the course of your survey, the theme of the questions may change, but it is good practice to always regularly revisit and revise the main question : The survey can go off course, there may be periods of quick progress, or blockage. But: Field conditions will always dictate direction to the surveyor.

Personal family history

Personal experiences

Knowledge of foreign cultures Traveling practices

Family relationships

Particularities of the surveyor

La place et le rôle du collecteur de témoignages oraux, Florence Descamps http://afas.revues.org/1514 ("The place and the role of the collector of oral testimony")

Knowledge of the field

Conduct a survey by accepting strangeness as an asset

= Reverse one's way of looking > The surest spirit of an ethnographic survey is one that is de-centered, in order to see the social world differently, in order to discover facts that are apparently banal, natural, obvious, reflecting social relations, history

Preparing the survey

Knowing the domain of research => document research - be part of a cumulative science - ask new questions - manifest your prejudices - draw up thematic files - avoid themes that are too large or too original

Preparing the survey

2. Get familiarised with the terrain - learn the language of "your" population : job-talk (work language), social language, cultural language... - learn to detect the implicit of social life in the milieu of the survey, - avoid constructing theories too quickly because they could lead to hasty interpretations.

Preparing the survey 3. Get informed - be permanently capable of talking about things that interest your witnesses, - strive to collect the maximum amount of information on your research theme ; be on the lookout !

Leaving for the survey...

Bring a notebook -- not too thick and not too thin -- in order to keep transportable field notes Establish a file sharing account on line in order to be aware of what the team is doing.

The field journal Serves as a log for keeping up with the survey. Its qualities : precision, sense of detail, scrupulous honesty of a laboratory... Where, when, how, with whom... Certain of those pages will become a research journal : analyses, evolution of the subject, hypotheses doubts, pleasures... Try to keep information on the left side of a page, and analysis on the right side.

Assorted questions to ask in one's field journal...

Why do I wish to lead this survey? What is my investment in the group I am surveying? What is my position(ality) in this universe and how might that

position at least partially explain my own point of view? Do I feel comfortable or at ease with this group, or not? Whom do I find nice or not, and why? Am I becoming dependent on certain members of the group?

Why? Would I just like to be elsewhere? .../...

The importance of the field journal

Only the field notebook promises to transform a social experience into an ethnographic one. In order to break with your habits, to undo your original point of view, it is even more necessary to have noted something, which gives you the power to do so.

Should interviews be filmed? -­‐  Lag between what the

witness is showing of herself and what she is saying,

- Critical distance is more difficult,

- "Total" recording of social life,

- High cost, - Complicates rights for

future broadcasting.

- The witness "shows", - Best criticism of the

source, - Facilitates later valorising.

The recording device

A Digital recording device that allows the sound recording in the WAVE format = minimum 44.1Hzt, 16 bits, the standard : 96Hzt/24 bits. A directional microphone or not (often not useful if a good quality microphone is integrated in the recording device).

Memory on media that will be compatible with your equipment.

Preparing an interview for archival purposes : Taking care of the material

aspects

Be aware of : - the place of where the interview will be held, - its length, - the image of the interviewer, - the recording and preservation equipment, because the logic of document sustainability and perpetuity guides our efforts.

Consequences of the choice of place to record

- Each place can produce interference in the mind of the witness, in terms of her conception of the exercise of oral archiving, at journalistic, heritage, wordly, pedagogic, confidential, professional registers... - Extinguish all noise! (telephone, outside conversations, pets, open windows...). - Envision your technical setup (electric plugs, taking notes, ...)

Self-appearance

Becoming an "interviewer" is a new social role to take on....  Don't disguise yourself, be yourself: - Neutrality of one's allure, - Respect the typical rules of politeness and be punctual,

The time given for an interview Ideally : one or two hours ... be careful about digital

mismanagement ;-) Choose a time of day when the witness is the most

energetic and available, in terms of her personal or professional organisation.

Follow a frequency of one or two meetings a week (if it is an oral history of a life story)

Recording sound

- Quality of the recording device and the microphone, - Quality of the act of recording sound (orientation of the microphone, mastery of the recording device, verification of levels), - Quality of the recording format, - Quality of sound card, - Staying alert for sound disturbances during the interview, - Staying alert for electric charge on the recording device (battery ou transformer) - Systematic transfer of digital files and verification of their integrity at the end of each interview.

Presenting oneself at the beginning of an interview The uses of the word "survey"

It is a term that is not neutral and can be associated with ideas that are perjorative: study, work, research are the most positive words but above all, take the time to explain your work, in particular if it involves a heritage survey for which you will later sign contracts for broadcast and use.

Always ask permission to record

By asking your interviewee for her permission to record, you change the status of her words: you transform private speech (between the witness and you) into a public one, potentially audible to a third party, and thus, usable, quotable.

Some ethical rules - Never record without a person's knowledge, - Explain the context and objective of the survey to the interviewee, - Interrupt the recording is she asks for it, - Ask for permission to take photographs, - Never divulge the discussion with the interviewee to her acquaintances, - Sign the necessary licensing and distribution contracts for the recordings, just like those used for images.

The trailer for the interview

The trailer identifies the file and avoids any kind of attribution error. It indicates: — the name of the interviewee, — the name of the interviewer (perhaps also her details, role, job), — the date and time of the interview (perhaps also the n°) — the site of the interview (home, office, institution...), — perhaps also, the purpose of the interview, and its framework (biographical, research, thematic, heritage survey for a deposit in an archive).

Conducting an interview

Should an "interview guide" be used? Collecting objective data Knowing how to lead conversational exchange: - Strategies of listening - Strategies of intervention

Should an "interview guide" be used?

Advantages : - it reassures the interviewee as well as the interviewers, - you structure the information in order to gather the material in a way that conforms to your problematic, - you can more easily make comparisons between different interviews, - it legitimates the quantitative conceptualisation of the interviews.

Disadvantages : - You will feel obligated to follow and respect your questions in order, - You might not be as attentive to what the interviewee is saying; - You may give the interviewee the impression that she is responding to a questionnaire, - The guide could lead you to stay locked in your subject.

Should an "interview guide" be used?

Putting it into practice In a group, construct an "interview guide"

around a theme you define together : your problematic

Look for an interviewee in your immediate surroundings, present your project to her, and record her for 10 minutes on an already defined theme.

Get the interviewee to sign licensing and distribution contracts for this recording.

Tools for planning a survey campaign

Multiple tools exist : The WWWWWHHM method

Who does What, Where, When, Why, How and How Much? Mental maps (Mind Mapping) in order to follow associations and links between thoughts. Examples of free Mind Mapping software programs Freemind or Xmind

Create an interview table from a mind map

=> Visual representation of links and associations between thoughts

Create an interview table from a mind map

Life story of someone involved in the independence of Tanzania

   

Do not forget to collect objective data

While the lived experiences of interviewees is important, in order for these archives to make sense, we need to also obtain objective information which would be too difficult to get later: a person's age, their professional path, spoken languages, social origins... > Look for clues during the interview.

How to lead the interview - Listen to interviews on-line - Center the beginning interview on a particular point: the interviewee should know where you are going, - Manage the time of the interview, know how to find the time to receive trust, - Avoid giving an interpretation while posing a question, or asking embarrassing factual questions, or questions of opinions, - Do not cut off your interviewee; it is not you who is interesting, it is she.

Listening strategies

The key to the methodology of interviewing is based on your listening technique. In this framework, listening produces meanings, implementing selection, inference, comparison operations against the goals of the interview. The decision to intervene must be made with full knowledge of the different types of intervention.

Fieldwork in Sociology by Howard Becker: Never ask "Why?"

http://www.canal-u.tv/producteurs/canal_socio_universite_paul_verlaine_metz/dossier_programmes/trois_lecons_de_sociologie/trois_lecons_de_sociologie_1_sur_le_travail_de_terrain

Canal socio

Strategies of intervention

- Instruct -  Revive -  Intervene

Strategies of intervention : instruct

All interviews start with an opening instruction: it must be clear, and yet the field of responses wide enough for everyone to be able to express her responses. "I'd like you to tell me ... what it means for you" (get an opinion) "I'd like you to tell me how it happened ..." (get a narration) => each instruction introduces a new theme, and structures the interview.

Strategies of intervention : revive

Revival is a reactive action that is registered in the course of the informant's statements. - reiteration by echo: a simple reprise of the the last information given by the speaker, - reiteration by reflecting back with a modal prefix like "so you think that .... ", - interpretative revival : "so you fear that..." (be careful of the last two uses, they could create tension with the interviewee) … there are many more ...

> Intervening by contradicting the interviewee forces her to support the line of argument in her statements. Disadvantages: the interviewer is no longer neutral and gives an opinion or takes sides

=> this strategy approaches journalism, and moves away from ethnographic questioning

Strategies of intervention : intervene

Credits Slide 1 and 8: Sound archives Marceau Gast, MMSH, photogr. Laure Principaud, janvier 2010. Slide 1: Digitizing sound, MMSH, photogr. Serge Mercier, 2012. Slides 1 and more : July 12, 1967 in northwest Burundi, Sekere, Emile Mworoha and Jean-Pierre Chrétien Characters: Corinne Cassé, 2011 Map of the brain by Roberta Faulhaber, plastic artist Translation by Richard Van Deusen <richard-at-copeia.fr>