First of all: I'm not an historian. I have never done a historical research in my life. But, against all odds, I want to start researching for a history book :)
I'l explain: I'm from Brazil and the small role our troops played at WWII is under appreciated and under researched country wide. Our veterans are dying and, with them, their history.
I live in a region which formed one the three regiments we sent to Italy. That means I can have easy access to the remaining veterans. At my city there are 20 alive, though only 5 are active at their association. They are simple people, willing to share their history and very conscious they have little time to make themselves heard.
I want to tell the history of this regiment, writing a book, shooting a documentary with them or both.
My question is related to the research method.
HOW should I do it?
Reading related books and making notes seems like the way to go, but, the further I read the messier my notes get.
Is there a way I can learn how to research, take notes, keep track of quotes, and organize my book/script without losing my mind? Better still: is there a way I can learn that without having to graduate in history?
Could you guys give me some tips and share your research workflow and organizing methods?
Thanks a lot guys!
Remember that oral history should not be taken as fact, you need to check what each person says against historical fact (ie. documentary records - payrolls, enrollment lists, generally paper records) and against each others statements. While this is not impossible it requires extensive research both before and after the interviews.
Thus you need (in my mind, I am not a modern historian who has to deal with these types of sources):
A sound knowledge of what occurred during the war (ie. where the regiments were sent and when, their documented movements, with whom the regiments might have come into contact, etc.). This information might come from the regimental or national archives; personal archives (eg. letters stashed in the attic, etc.); contemporary newspapers (Brazilian, American, English, French, Italian, etc. - although you can restrict yourself to Brazilian at first, check with your local libraries for physical or online archives); history books.
Now you can draft a questionnaire. Not that you have to stick rigidly to a script but this is how you can compare the oral data you receive against documentary data and against the other testimony you are receiving. Documentary records will only tell you so much, this can be fleshed out by oral history. However, oral history is notoriously difficult to verify, as time and retelling can dramatically affect the fallible human memory. This is why it is so important to have a questionnaire to enable qualitative comparison.
Do the interviews, and keep a digital record (either audio or video recording). Firstly, this allows you to speak more freely and not have to keep scribbling; secondly, it means you can verify your data later if it is challenged.
Cross-reference everything.
You don't need a history degree to do historical research. What you need is time and dedication to provide a historical source. Simply sitting down with a camera and asking these veterans questions (especially without a questionnaire) isn't going to produce a (good) historical work - entertainment maybe but not historical - you need to hold yourself to the standards of a researcher and these are difficult and stringent.
Note-taking is a difficult thing to master. Think about the categories which apply to the subject and keep track of what goes where. The first and primary thing should be drawing up a timeline of these regiments activities in Brazil and Europe, that can help you identify key periods and key themes. If the history of these regiments hasn't been written then you'll need to go into the archives yourself to draw up the timeline.
Ps.
If you decide to go through with it then might I express my admiration. It'll be a lot of work but it sounds as if you'll produce something of real lasting value. Also, look into getting funding from national or local sources, if available - but be aware that they will likely expect you to actually produce something at the end!
I have some (minimal) experience conducting oral histories myself while interning as an undergrad. One of the interviews I conducted was with my grandfather, who was a WWII veteran himself. He passed away shortly after and I'm thankful that some of his memories will be preserved in the Library of Congress. I think this is an excellent project and I wish you luck.
The book we used for training was Donald A. Ritchie's Doing Oral History, and I highly recommend it. It's a comprehensive guide to every step of an oral history project and I believe it will be of great help to you. It will provide more help than I would ever be able to give in a short reddit post.
You may also find it helpful to consult Alessandro Portelli's The Order Has Been Carried Out for an idea of what a finished book based on oral histories is like. His project consisted of interviewing people about a very specific historical event in WWII. He didn't simply use the oral histories as footnotes to support an argument, but rather dedicated most of the book to large excerpts from interviews. He assembled them together like a collage while providing context for them, thus allowing the subjects to speak for themselves. Of course, his own theories and beliefs underlie the construction of the book as a whole.
/u/TheGreenReaper7 already gave some great advice so I'll try to give my own tips without repeating what he's already covered. First, before you even start conducting interviews you should consider yourself highly knowledgeable on the subject of Brazil's role in WWII. The more knowledge you have on the subject you're interviewing a person on, the better questions you'll be able to ask and the better the interview will be.
Second, one of the most important parts of interviewing is building rapport with the interviewee. Being knowledgeable on the subject is a big help here for getting their respect. Act professional and courteous at all times. Do not get into arguments with the interviewee, even if they say something you know to be factually incorrect or that you disagree with on a deeply personal level.
Some interviewees will simply talk and talk for hours, which are the best kind because you can simply sit back and enjoy, occasionally guiding them between topics. Others are more taciturn and this is where you will need a solid interview guide to prevent uncomfortable dead air, the bane of the oral historian.
Always have back-up equipment ready, you never want to set up an interview and have to cancel it because of some technical failure. Invest the money into a high-quality digital recorder. Too many interviews are worthless because they can be barely understood. Even worse would be finishing the interview, only to find that due to some technical problem it was not recorded or the recording is unusable. It's extremely embarrassing to have to redo an interview, and I have been told the second interview is always worse. I would advise video recording the interviews as well, since you're only looking at a maximum of 20 interviews, and often a person's gestures and facial expressions reveal extra information not evident in their tone and diction.
Oral history is not just about completing your project, remember that these histories could be valuable to future historians. Therefore, if the subject strays a bit let them speak about what they want; Don't interrupt them or force them to exclusively stay on topics you're interested in. Often these asides can yield valuable information. At the same time, you should have carefully crafted questions prior to the interview ready to guide them toward your topics of interest.
Ok, this got a bit long and rambling, so tl;dr: Buy Doing Oral History by Donald A. Ritchie and read it front to back. Reference The Order Has Been Carried Out by Alessandro Portelli and Remembering Jim Crow: African Americans Tell About Life in the Segregated South by William Henry Chafe, Raymond Gavins, and Robert Korstad for ideas of what finished books based on oral history projects look like.