Several types of forms may be used as part of an oral history project. ALL oral history projects must include consent forms. Depending on your project, you may also choose to include a Letter of Information and/or a Pre-Interview Questionnaire. Below are brief descriptions of each type of form.

Informed Consent and Consent Forms

By Michael Iannozzi

Informed consent is the single most essential part of any interview protocol. Failure to follow this simple concept is potentially unethical, and in extreme cases, can result in information being unusable. Informed consent is the idea that the person signing the Consent Form is not just signing it because “they trust you”, “you’re an old friend”, etc. They MUST understand what they are doing, and most importantly, they MUST understand what the recording will be used for, who will hear them and where they might be heard.  For example, an archive that is online is very different from a museum or archive at a physical location.

You must also make clear that the person being interviewed has complete control over what is released. They can revoke their consent at any time. They can ask for a sentence to be removed, all named people have their names redacted, etc. It is imperative that you respect these wishes. They can ask that an image (maybe only one out of one hundred) not be made public until after the person’s death, and that must be respected. An example, of something that should be made clear, is original Italian passports. These are obviously very personal and sensitive documents, and so you should make sure to explain (while recording, so there is a record of you saying it) that all numbers (such as the issuance number), and sensitive information will be removed. This is easy to do with photo editing software. A black bar over the information is perfect.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES can recording begin before the Consent Forms have been signed, and it is imperative that the interviewee be aware when the recorder is turned on, and that they are told when it is turned off—and then it is turned off. Anything other than this will, potentially, lead to very serious problems, and even if it doesn’t, it is a breach of ethics, and of the personal trust of the interviewee.

In order to obtain consent, you must use a Consent Form. To be safe and to protect you and the interviewee, your Consent Form should meet the research standards of a university or a public archive. You can access samples and templates of Consent Forms in the Samples & Templates Toolkit. You should adapt and change these templates to suit your project.

Letters of Information

A Letter of Information is used to describe your project to participants. Though optional, it can help give information about purpose, eligibility, consent, future usage, or contacts. Participants are able to keep a copy for future reference. 

In the Samples & Templates Toolkit, you can access two Letter of Information templates. One also contains a Consent Form. You should adapt and change these templates to suit your project.

Pre-Interview Questionnaires

A Pre-Interview Questionnaire is used to gather information ahead of interviews to better prepare questions. It is not necessary, but can be helpful, especially when you have limited time with an interviewee, or your project focuses on a specific subject.

In the Samples & Templates Toolkit, you can access a sample Pre-Interview Questionnaire. You should adapt and change this sample to suit your project. The sample included is based on a questionnaire provided by Dr. Gilberto Fernandes and the City Builders project.