Creating Heirlooms for Common People
August 6, 2010 3:31 PM   Subscribe

I want to record stories of people who might not otherwise get to tell their stories, or who don't have anyone who will preserve their heritage. I need any advice you can give me, including equipment, logistics and legal issues.

Backstory:

Years ago, one January, I worked at my university combing the obituaries for news of alumni deaths. The job was depressing like Kieslowski, but it gave me an idea. Obituaries were terse and vague: "Such-and-such a person died. They had a job while they were alive. They have some family who outlived them. The funeral is Sunday." It made me sick to see human lives crammed inside those narrow columns.

I decided to do something about it: I would write biographies for common people, for a fee. Oh, idealism! The practicalities of the process stopped me before I started. Writing a biography would take hundreds of hours: interviewing and gathering anecdotes from loved ones, writing, editing, and then there was the cost of publishing. Turned out I'd have to find another source of income or the service would be far too expensive for any common person.

Then, last year, I discovered my digital camera could shoot video. Huzzah! A solution! Video does two things: 1) it compresses time. Rather than hearing, summarizing and then writing, with video it all happens at once. 2) video captures nuance. Humans communicate as much by non-verbal signals as we do with words. Video captures those expressions more efficiently than the best writer.

I started with my family, as we've always had an interest in our heritage and have traced our ancestors back to the early 17th century. I recently recorded my Grandparents' stories and thoroughly enjoyed learning not just about our family, but about American life in the 50's.

A few months later, my Great Aunt said something that added an imperative to my idea: she remarked that my uncle and I (her nephew and great-nephew) were the only people who cared enough to listen to her stories.

How sad. And how many other people, filled to the brim with life, have no one to listen to their stories?

I want to record stories of people who might not otherwise get to tell their stories, or who don't have anyone who will preserve their heritage.

When I looked around for services doing this, most were expensive (over $1k), out of business or focused on profiling corporations. When a MeFite looked for this previously, they didn't find anything conclusive.

I'm not interested in making a lot of money, going out of business, or chronicling companies. Rather, my purpose is to validate people's existence while recording their wisdom and history for posterity.

I have two goals:

1. Record everyone's stories.
2. Encourage others to record everyone's stories.

To avoid catering to companies and make the service sustainable, I'll need a business model in which I charge those who can afford the service enough to cover costs and a bit more for rainy days and I'll need to maintain a sufficient volume to defend against having to get a "real" job. To make the service affordable to "everyone", I'll need to develop a scholarship (or sponsorship) system.

To achieve my goals I have these methods:

1. Personally record stories, for a minimal fee per session (to cover costs and make the project sustainable).
- I'll afford groceries by maintaining a certain volume of sessions.
2. Develop scholarships for those who can't afford the nominal fee.
3. Produce walk-throughs and advice on a simple blog to encourage collaboration.
4. Gather stories as a part of a Creative Commons licensed biographiles project, to be hosted somewhere very, very safe (archive.org? Library of Congress? Distribute via torrents?).
5. Integrate with other, similar projects.
6. Enlist historians, students and others to conduct interviews when loved ones can't or won't.

To achieve #1 I have these objectives:

1. Acquire filming, lighting and editing equipment sufficient to treat the storytellers respectfully.
- Equipment should be capable of capturing the idiosyncratic nuances that differentiate a human from others (Kundera's variations).
2. Use a simple, intuitive scheduling and payment system.
3. Develop intuitive payment models: use 2hr recording session as a unit, extra to keep the raw footage (cost of memory card).
- Should incorporate 2hr recording sessions (the length of each session with my grandparents), equivalent time for basic editing, 1hr for transportation, some time for publishing and burning, and bank time for scholarships (see point #4 in the next section).

To achieve #2 I have these objectives:

1. Accept donations from those who can afford to pay to scholarship others (micropayments).
2. Solicit donations in very specific instances to scholarship specific people -- act as intermediary between the person receiving the scholarship and the person or people scholarshipping.
- The recipient could offer a unique, homemade gift in return ala Kickstarter
3. Offer a "Pay-What-You-Can" option.
4. Donate one hour of every paying recording session to a scholarship fund (ie, 5 paying sessions = 1 scholarship)

To achieve #3 I have these objectives:

1. As I learn, produce brief content and walkthroughs, based on direct experience.
2. DRY: Link to quality content and walkthroughs.
- Solicit content from experts (historians, videographers, interviewers)
3. To build traffic, post stories on a periodic basis (rss feed and email subscription -- so we're using wordpress).
4. Spread via twitter / facebook

To achieve #4 I have these objectives:

1. Develop a relationship with a video hosting site to make videos accessible and freely hosted.
2. Require all stories to be licensed under CC-AT-NC-SA
3. Distribute via blog, and other projects' websites.
4. Donate everything to the Library of Congress or similar organization.

To achieve #5 (and #6) I have these methods:

1. Directly contact local historians, oral history associations, StoryCorps, university heritage projects, library of congress, world heritage project, etc.
2. Offer to share films.
3. Invite them to contribute their own films to the project.
4. Invite them to interview on behalf of scholarship recipients
- and to interview people who interest them, but might not otherwise participate (for lack of family, etc to persuade them).

What I need to know (I hope you're warmed up, MeFites):

Recording everyone's stories:

- What scheduling system is most convenient for older people?
- I find online scheduling convenient in general, but is something like GenBook or BookFresh going to dissuade older people from participating?
- How much will people pay for the convenience of having someone record and edit for them?
- I've estimated $30US an hour to be below industry standard, but enough to cover costs.
- Estimate 2hrs for recording, 2hrs for basic editing, 1hr for burning/publishing/posting and allow 1hr for transportation (as stated in section #1.3).
- Is that affordable for people potentially on fixed incomes?
- Are sliding scales fair or legal?
- I've considered charging $60/hr but providing a 50% discount for participation in the biographiles public heritage project.
- Could one hour be tacked on top of that for scholarships, and remain affordable? (See point in #2.4)

Scholarships:

- What is the best system for accepting donations? Paypal is standard fare, but IIRC they now require proof of 501(c)(3) status.
- What are ways to reach out to the public to promote the project (are there oral-history conventions?) and to share the stories?
- Does anyone love the idea of public screenings as much as I do?
- What sort of gifts do micro-sponsors / funders like?
- Does soliciting donations require 501(c)(3) status? I'm far more a fan of Benefit Corporations.
- What criteria will trigger the sliding scale?


Sharing the stories:

- What video hosting companies are egalitarian in nature? Blip.tv? YouTube? Self-hosting? Which are the most secure?
- What other formats should we publish the stories to? iTunes? Will storytellers want DVDs or BluRay?
- Should we record in HD (requires more resources but shows more nuance)?
- Which Creative Commons license is most practical for the project? Is it really cc-at-nc-sa?
- What criteria does the Library of Congress have before it will accept such a project's offerings?

Collaborating with others:

- What historical societies, etc, exist? I've found some via old ask.mefi posts here, here and here.
- How much involvement will they need from me for them to begin contributing?
- Am I going to run into turf-wars, and how do I mitigate those distractions?

Safety and legal:

- Where should I conduct the interviews? Dedicated space, my house, their house? What about bringing historians, students with interest, to enter people's homes?
- What legal protections will I need in the case that my philanthropy clashes with someone's ungratefulness?

Thank you thank you thank you thank you :)

The list is expansive, I know, but it's from years of thinking about this. I've researched many aspects of the idea (mostly questions I'm not asking, because I've researched them, or they're specific enough to deserve their own question), but some need human advice. I'm ever grateful for the hive. Thank you :)
posted by Galen to Work & Money (11 answers total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
tl;dr but skimmed enough to ask if you are aware of StoryCorps. If you're not, you'll certainly want to. Good luck with your project.
posted by Pineapplicious at 3:41 PM on August 6, 2010 [2 favorites]


Seconding StoryCorps as a model and source of advice. The Smithsonian Institution's oral history project/archivists might be able to help you out too.
posted by foxy_hedgehog at 3:47 PM on August 6, 2010


Response by poster: Yep. Very aware of StoryCorps. Love what they do. This is essentially that, but perhaps without the public-side funding (or perhaps with? is that a viable option?). And with video.
posted by Galen at 3:49 PM on August 6, 2010


Tons of questions!

Where are you? In San Francisco, there are lots of historical societies, small and large. I know several that interview long-time residents and regular people, but purely on a volunteer basis or for the good of the public (they are archived at the main library, or at FoundSF). I doubt you'll run into "turf wars" if you're interviewing everyday people.

For recording interviews with older people, I'd say to go with whatever their schedules are. I've interviewed early risers and night owls. More than an hour at a time is stretching it with anyone, though. As for online scheduling, that might be a bit advanced for a lot of people, never mind older ones. I know plenty of computer-savvy octogenarians and even nonagenarians, but they aren't in the majority by any means.

Be aware that you need to get permission from your subjects before you can publish transcripts or videos anywhere. (If you want to deposit your interviews somewhere like the LoC, you will need to provide transcripts as well -- major time suckage. Allow an hour's transcribing for every 10-15 minutes of film or tape. That will affect your price, too.)

And conduct the interviews SOMEWHERE QUIET. I can't stress this enough!

Feel free to Memail me if you have any specific California-related questions.
posted by vickyverky at 3:55 PM on August 6, 2010


Oral History Association's Resources page.
posted by gyusan at 4:19 PM on August 6, 2010


Response by poster: @vickyverky Thanks for those excellent tips.

re: permission As my goal is to record stories for families, the storyteller, and society, the discount rate will carry the caveat of a Creative Commons license. However, if they want to keep sections private, that's fine, and if they want to keep the majority or entirety private, the discount (and scholarships) won't apply.

It seems it'd be better to say, "This costs $60 an hour, but there's a discount and scholarships available?"
posted by Galen at 4:22 PM on August 6, 2010


Response by poster: Oh, and I'm near Seattle.
posted by Galen at 4:31 PM on August 6, 2010


Just wanted to make sure you were aware of all the paperwork you will generate!

gyusan beat me to it with the Oral History Association link. How about the Washington State Archives? Is there anything in your state like the Regional Oral History Office at UC Berkeley?

I also recommend reading the archives at the H-ORALHIST listserv, or subscribing if you haven't already. They list resources, projects, and all sorts.
posted by vickyverky at 5:46 PM on August 6, 2010


I basically think that you are talking about two very separate, although related activities; creating an oral history collection and creating a fee for service business (granted your fee structure is nominal) to help people create oral histories for their families.

I could be way off base, but I've worked at archives and a historical society and it seems like your proposal, while obviously well-thought out, would be difficult to sell to the non-profit/history organizations. Particularly since you don't mention a background in public or applied history or that you have any quantifiable expertise as an interviewer for oral histories. There is a definite skill set. I also know that as an "outsider" for lack of a better term, I think that it will be hard to work with them after the fact (approaching them with a bunch of videos already completed). Since their mission is usually to preserve the history of the area they represent (through objects, be they analog or digital, paper or some other media) in perpetuity, they think long and hard before accessioning. Frankly most historical societies and even larger, better funded organizations are struggling with how to preserve audio-visual media and keep up with the necessary migrations to ensure access to these materials as technology evolves. So they might think twice at what would basically be an amateur collection of oral histories to which they would have to provide access, ideally for the lifetime of the institution. I think that you'd have better luck if you became involved with a local institution, pitched your idea, and offered to help them write a grant to fund the project. With the experience that you gain, you could then grow your own private service. If you already had a connection with a historical society, they might be more willing to accept oral histories that originated with your private project/business concern.

The other problem that I see with regard to getting your ad-hoc oral history collection accepted into another institution, is that most oral history programs are usually targeted to specific populations such as Women and Political Activism in Idaho Oral History Project
1945-1980 (part of the Northwest Digital Archives consortium, although the interviews are not available on line, just a description of the collection). I may be way off base here as of course StoryCorps already exists and is very close to your model.

I know that I am focusing way too much on the institutional side, but that is the world I know and I wanted to warn you of some road blocks that you might stumble across when you pitch your idea. People seem to think "if I'm giving something to a historical society for free, why wouldn't they take it?" They don't realize that it takes money and staff to arrange, describe, preserve and provide access to these materials.

That being said, I think that you've got some great ideas and I wish you good luck. Oh and I found this website that has a lot of suggestions and a list of resources that you might find helpful if you haven't seen it already.
posted by kaybdc at 6:41 PM on August 6, 2010 [3 favorites]


As someone who regularly pours over pages and pages and hours and hours of oral/video histories, I know this sounds harsh--but a large majority of people don't have very interesting stories nor do they tell their stories in an entertaining/engrossing way. They just don't. This doesn't mean that these people aren't admirable, lovable or worthy of family rememberance.

While I admire your enthusiasm, I think you're better off trying to get people to preserve their family lore for use in their own families. A stranger trying to parse the relationship of Uncle Bets to Auntie Polly to the Molsen twins (who lived in the brick house on Raymond Ave.) can soon lose interest and close the book or shut off the tape.
posted by Ideefixe at 8:18 PM on August 6, 2010


Response by poster: @kaybdc Thank you for your in depth explanation of the institutional side. You're right about the disparate activities. You've dissuaded me on to defer the global project for now. Too complicated to attempt at the start.

@ldeefixe You make an excellent point about aiming to preserve family lore (which is how I got started). It's the best starting point from a number of perspectives, and it's the one I've chosen.

It's the kernel of the idea, and so by starting there and getting that right, I'll have a foundation to expand on. The other elements I described can all attach to that.

Which means the real questions I should be asking at this point are few compared to the above list. Namely,

- What equipment should I use? What kind of camera? Do I really need a $1400 prosumer model? Is mobile lighting necessary?
- Should we record in HD (requires more resources but shows more nuance)?

- Where should I conduct the interviews? Dedicated space, my house, their house?

- What scheduling system is most convenient for older people?
- I find online scheduling convenient in general, but is something like GenBook or BookFresh going to dissuade older people from participating? Will the target market actually be the older, or will it be their children / grandchildren arranging the interview?

- How much will people pay for the convenience of having someone record and edit for them?
- I've estimated $30US an hour to be below industry standard, but enough to cover costs.

Which, over about seven hours (2 recording, 2-3 editing and publishing, 1 transportation and setup, and one for scholarships), would reach $210. I'd like to afford to give them the memory card with the data on it, so another $45 for that?

- Is $255 affordable for people potentially on fixed incomes?
- Would you pay that to have someone take care of shooting, editing and publishing?
- Should I charge more, but provide a sliding scale?

I'll start working on those questions now. I welcome your input!

And thank you all, so much, for contributing your insight to my ideas. :)
posted by Galen at 11:44 PM on August 8, 2010


« Older 3-2-1 Contact Incidental Music (Antarctica)   |   Help Me Automatically Publish a Nicely Formatted... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.