ABSTRACT
This chapter early on addresses informed consent based on oral history authorities. Because of the realities of interviewing for a family history, it adds the need for separate approval of material quoted and visuals in whatever medium the family history uses. A discussion of the realities of anonymity and confidentiality across a family includes how the British Library handles this issue and summarizes Canadian and US academic and regulatory literature in this regard. The chapter also cites hyperlinks to ethics sites from major oral history organizations. Prior to being interviewed for this book, those interviewed for their input on family history answered questions in a pre-interview questionnaire about what would make them comfortable, uncomfortable, or would be fun with any process to write a family history. The answers are charted in this chapter followed by a dialog with a US professor of philosophy (of which ethics is a subset) and then with an oral history practitioner and British workshop leader. The topics include ethics as compared with legal and moral considerations, autonomy and dignity, trust and fairness, multicultural considerations, family dynamics, embarrassments and secrets that crop up in family history, and finally how we learn ethics.
