Heritage Archives of Tanzania: http://phonotheque.hypotheses.org/13257

1. ● Archiving
and
disseminating
● sound
archives
–
5:
Collecting
sound
data
for
digital
storage
and
dissemination
Véronique Ginouvès, MMSH
Maison méditerranéenne
des sciences de l’homme
veronique.ginouves@univ-amu.fr

2. 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. 3.
Collec0ng
sound
data
for
digital
storage
and
dissemina0on
1. How
to
create
a
ne
w
sound
collection;
2.
Organizing
field
recordings
and
preparing
a
maintenance
verification
and
control
panel.
3. Successful
sound
recording
and
recording
interviews.

4. 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…

5. 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

6. Our
programme
- Methods of collecting
- Recording interviews
- Valorising interviews

7. 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

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. Particularities of the surveyor
Personal family history
Personal experiences
Knowledge of foreign cultures
Traveling practices
Family relationships
Knowledge of the field
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")

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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.

16. 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 !

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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?
.../...

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. 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.

24. 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, ...)

25. 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,

26. 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)

27. 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.

28. 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.

29. 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.

30. 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.

31. 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).

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

33. 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.

34. Should an "interview guide" be
used?
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.

35. 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.

36. 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

37. Create an interview table from a mind
map
=> Visual representation of links and associations between thoughts

38. Create an interview table from a
mind map
Life story of someone involved in the
independence of Tanzania

39. 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.

40. 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.

41. 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.

42. 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

43. Strategies of intervention
- Instruct
- Revive
- Intervene

44. 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.

45. 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 ...

46. Strategies of intervention :
intervene
> 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

47. 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>