Choosing the Right Personal Historian

Every personal historian offers a unique combination of skills and personality. To find the right one for you, we suggest the following:

  1. Use the Find a Personal Historian search to create a list of people who do the type of work you need.
  2. Call and talk with them about their work experience and about your project. The call will help you get a sense of whether you will get along well and if the person has the skills you need. The personal historian may suggest options that you haven't thought of.
  3. If you aren't sure what you want, call the personal historians whose work interests you the most. A phone chat may give you new ideas and a direction for your project.
  4. Narrow your list to the top candidates, then ask for references and samples of their work.
  5. Discuss how the work will be shared between you and the personal historian.
  6. Create a timeline for when processes and products will be completed and have a written agreement that outlines the scope of the project, fees and payments, and how any changes in the scope of work will be handled.