Frequently Asked Questions

We would love to accommodate everyone. But our funding and time is limited.

There are a few possibilities.

• You conduct the interview yourself. We provide the paperwork and training. You find the equipment and/or a videographer.
• Your loved one comes to Austin. We schedule an interview in our studios. You may still conduct the interview.
• You provide funding to hire a professional videographer in your area and we find a videographer for you. You conduct the interview.

• We first convert the videos into an editable video format.
• We send those files to the library for digitization and preservation in a format that will be accessible for many, many years, long after DVDs and mp4s are not being used.
• We create an online version (mp4) for our website and send a DVD or mp4 to the interview subject.
• We also may create short documentaries, audio stories or photo stories based on the interview, archival photos, and documents.

The Voces Oral History Center conducts dozens of interviews every year. Some take place in a studio within the Moody College of Communication, others are in an individual's home or office. But the majority derive from Multiple Individual Interview Sessions (MIISes).

The MIISes are generally outside of Austin and are major productions, involving as many as 20 University of Texas faculty, students, and volunteers. At the end of the day, a MIIS may have recorded as many as 14 interviews: seven in a morning session and seven in the afternoon.