Today we’re finishing (at least for now) the series of interviews from my independent study project undertaken during my graduate studies in 2015. There are a couple more interviews from that project, but I’ve been having trouble getting in touch with the interviewees to get their approval for their interview to be shared outside of the schoolwork I did back then. One of the big concepts for good oral history work is always consent – not only to be recorded, but also for the specific context in which the recording can be used or shared. This also applies to what people do or do not want to talk about when they are being interviewed.

Another interesting thing about oral histories is the conversation around the length of an interview. I was fortunate enough to be able to go to the Oral History Association conference last year, and there were some folks who would call 2 or 3 hours a nice long interview (me included), and some who would say “you call that long? Back in my day we did 10 or 12 hour interviews!...” or something like that. Today’s interview is probably the shortest I have ever done, but I think it’s still a pretty good one, and not just because who we’re speaking with: Dr. Elise Lewis

Dr. Lewis is an Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina’s School of Library and Information Science, where she teaches everything from the first introductory courses at an undergrad and graduate level to more specialized instruction like Web Technologies for Information Specialists and Technology in Cultural Heritage Institutions. Her own education was through the University of North Texas, starting with a Bachelors in Radio, Television, and Film Production, continuing with her Masters in Library and Information Science, and then completing her Doctorate in Information Science in 2011.