Virginia Center Commons Mall Oral History Student Project
Reflection
What was my oral history about and why did it matter for it be made?
As I mentioned before, I made an oral history for Virginia Center Commons Mall because I initially wanted to find out the rationale behind its closure, give voice to those who wished to recount their memories they shared with others at their childhood shopping centers and malls, and understand the ebb and flow of mall popularity. This mattered because in the future, it may provide a space for others to share how things used to be in the past when it came to shopping with friends or family and compare how things were to how shopping works now. Others could use this archive in future research when doing studies on malls like their gradual disappearance because of factors such as online shopping or the shifts in preferences of payment when buying something.
How did I plan and carry out this project? What were the steps that I took in creating my project? What about the organization of my workplan? How did I stay on track to meet deadlines?
For this project, I pretty much just followed along with the syllabus schedule to keep up with the deadlines and kept track of the deadlines using Canvas, the university’s grading site. I made sure I did not wait until the last second to find potential interviewees, contact them about information about the project and kept them informed through email, make appointments with them and at places that were quiet enough for the recording to go well and uninterrupted. I made appointments ahead of time at study rooms of public libraries.
I choose not to purchase or rent expensive equipment at my university or elsewhere because I wanted my project to be as simply made as possible and I did wish to go overboard in preparation. Although this is a risk because it is important for others to be able to fully hear what others are saying without background interruptions, I ensured that was not a factor for me by using Bluetooth earplugs for my microphone, working in quiet environments with little interruption, and preparing my interviewees ahead of time to be in a quiet area where they can speak uninterrupted and be themselves without worrying about how they spoke or if they were moving off topic.
I choose not to video my interviews because I feel like it doesn’t take away from the interview if I were not to include it. Also, I choose to do my interviews completely remotely through Zoom or Google Voice because of its convenience and I have experience using those two platforms. I made good use of social media, I searched for potential interviewees through Reddit, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Yelp, and I was lucky that I found one of my interviewees through YouTube. I found my other interviewee by speaking to others in passing. I made sure that I kept my work organized and easy to find on my computer so I can easily put the assignments to good use when I did my website archive.
What software or hardware did I learn to use for this project? What were the challenges when learning and how did I overcome them?
As for the software or hardware I learned to use for this project, I did not include any new equipment. In my case, I felt like it was not needed. However, I did find myself facing a problem when using Google Voice to record my official interview with Larry. When I did my pre-interview with the software, it worked just fine. But, when I did the official interview, it wasn’t until the end of the interview that I found out that it did not record it. The sad thing about it was that the interview went much better because he was able to answer naturally and on the fly. He was not prepared to answer and was able to be as informative as he wanted to. I was lucky enough that he understood that I made a mistake in not making sure the call was being recorded, and we rescheduled it to another day and used Zoom instead.
Who did I work with? What was their background or perspective? Were there moments when I felt that these differences affected my ability to relate to or work with my interviewee? How did I overcome them?
As for who I worked with, I worked with Kristin Liles and Larry, my two interviewees. Kristin Liles is a YouTuber that wishes to draw attention and provide insight into the history of dead malls and highlight the importance of not letting these malls go abandoned for too long to lessen the damage it issues people. I believe they are 43 years, I may be wrong, I missed the opportunity to ask in the interview I had with them. This calculation was based on the year I found that they were born in (1982). I should have asked for their age during the interview. They use google alerts to keep track of these malls closing and take long trips there to cover their stories before the malls close for good. Liles represents a perspective that was very informative about this subject and sometimes during the interview, I was just along for the ride because I wasn’t as informed and that’s okay. Although it was challenging for me, I was able to build a rapport with them for the interview to be effective and informative.
Larry is a retired elder who is 73 years old. He provides this project with the perspective of someone who is knowledgeable about the ebbs and flows of shopping and attitudes that in turn changes what’s available around and not so easily accessible or affordable. He was able to provide me a perspective of an African American who lived during the times of visually apparent discrimination. Also, because of how he spoke and what he talked about, we were able to build a better rapport between interviewee and interviewer. He is very down to earth, and we spoke similarly.