Archive/Themes
Reading across
Themes
Things that turn up in recording after recording, with people who have never met and do not do the same job.
Themes are assembled after transcription by two archivists reading independently. A subject is never asked to speak to a theme.
How themes are made
Themes are revised as the archive grows, and superseded versions are retained in the archive alongside the recordings they were drawn from.
Three themes
What we do not do with themes
- We do not ask subjects to speak to a theme during the interview.
- We do not cut an excerpt shorter to make it fit a theme better.
- We do not use a theme page to say something the recordings do not.
- We do not treat disagreement between subjects as a problem to resolve.
- Every quotation on a theme page links to the record it came from.
- Themes are revised as the archive grows, and old versions are kept.
Themes are a way in. The records are the point.
If you have time for one thing, read a record in full rather than a theme. The excerpts are chosen to be read together.