Selection

If collecting centres do not have the resources to transcribe their recordings, effective cataloguing and indexing (see Chapter 7) is of paramount importance, as it provides the sole facility for retrieving information which has been recorded. Other institutions either may not have the means to transcribe all the recorded interviews they collect, or they may feel that not all of their recordings merit this costly process. In all cases where a measure of selection is necessary, the following criteria can be used. Transcription may be recommended when:

1. The fame or historical Significance of the informants suggest that there will probably be a demand for access to their interviews.
2. More than 50% of the content of a particular interview is informative as opposed to impressionistic in character.
3. There are clearly outstanding parts, though amounting to less than 50% of the whole interview, in an otherwise unexceptional recording (then the appropriate reels may be specifically recommended for transcription).
4. The quality of the interview, as a sound recording, is sufficiently lively and interesting to indicate that it has potential value for use in, for example, educational or broadcasting programmes.

It does not follow from the above that the lack of a transcript necessarily indicates a poor interview. Interviews which are not selected for transcription may be those which contain a higher degree of general than specific information; those in which there is more opinion than illustration; and those where the informant is less articulate or overly discursive. Such interviews may well contain extremely valuable information even though - for one reason or another - it is not well enough presented by the informant to justify the cost of transcribing.