History is simply the past, and the past can be saved from disappearance or extinction only by recording it. Writing was initially created to record past events, inventions, achievements, sagas and the like, but what about the past that was not recorded in written records? Or how can the present be saved for future use? The unwritten records of the past had definitely reached people orally, and this method of transmitting history was called oral history. According to the Oral History Association, “oral history is a field of study and method of collecting, preserving, and interpreting the voices and memories of people, communities, and participants in past events” (OHA ). Oral history is the systematic collection of accounts from living people about their own experiences, and it is not folklore, gossip, hearsay, or rumor. It's about transforming people's memories into stories by conducting interviews with them. Memory therefore fundamentally plays an important and crucial role in oral history. Oral history is also used in research, museum exhibits, public presentations, documentaries, and others. According to the Colombian Encyclopedia, ancient societies depended on stories passed down to them orally in the absence of writing to know the history and thus pass it on to the next generation. He also states that “in Western society, the use of oral material dates back to the early Greek historians Herodotus and Thucydides, both of whom made extensive use of oral reports from witnesses. The modern concept of oral history was developed in the 1940s by Allan Nevins and his associates at Columbia University” (CU). To produce an oral history, certain procedures must be followed and many problems are involved in producing an oral history, but some of the most important ones will be clarified in the next few lines. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Doing an oral history is not easy to do, and it requires certain methods and steps to come out with an oral history piece. This involves defining a project with certain procedures that investigators must follow to successfully complete this project. The very first step is to unravel the project objective and ensure that it can be achieved based on available resources, because "too many projects have ended with little result from their efforts, except for small boxes of unidentified, unprocessed and unusable tapes. due to limited resources. Additionally, one of the most important procedures or steps to follow is to perform maintenance. Interviews are conducted through a knowledgeable interviewer who interviews people who participated in or observed past significant events and records their conversation in audio or video format. The interviewer's objective must be clear in order to add a historical record. Additionally, any random recordings or personal diaries without interaction between the interviewer and the interviewee are not considered oral history. Historians have established rules and principles for treating interviewees ethically, but they have established an exception to every rule because oral history covers a very wide range of studies and also to allow investigators to become more creative in their interviews, as Ritchie explained. Additionally, the number of people an investigator needs to meet the needs of theresearch doesn't have to be important. If two informants are able to produce valuable information, it means that the objective has been achieved. On the other hand, the interview should not last less than an hour or more than two hours in order to keep the interviewer and interviewee focused, excited and comfortable. Various questions related to oral history. At the top of the list is skepticism, many suspicions arise about whether oral history should be reliable or not because of people's different viewpoints or because people become biased in favor of one side or of a particular figure or against it. When Thucydides interviewed the participants in the Peloponnesian War, he was skeptical of their testimony and claimed that "different eyewitnesses give different accounts of the same events, speaking out of partiality for one side or the other or well from imperfect memories” and this exactly means that each person has their own perspective on the events unfolding in front of them since they have different experiences from others (Ritchie 20). Another issue that concerns historians when it comes to interviews is memory, because "oral history interviews are often conducted years after the event, when memories have become imprecise", so interviews immediately after the event can collect precise information about this event. Additionally, there is skepticism about the accuracy of sources, whether they are classified as objective or subjective. Oral historians describe unchanged or unbiased information as "objective sources", while "subjective sources" consider it unreliable and therefore could change over time. Additionally, an unbiased history could be written by collecting information from different people who experienced the events when they happened. For example, in 1773, an English writer named Samuel Johnson opined that "a man, by talking with those on different sides who have been the actors in it, and by writing down all that he hears, can, in time, , gather the materials for a good story.” » (Ritchie 20). Additionally, interviewer and interview issues could have a significant impact on the way oral history is presented. Interviewers should keep in mind that the location of the interview influences the type of answers given by the interviewee. The best thing to do to get the interviewee's satisfaction is to let them choose the location. Additionally, interviewers must ensure that nothing can interrupt the interview; The atmosphere of the interview is directly proportional to the psychology of the interviewee and their willingness to answer questions. Additionally, interviewers must have certain qualifications to be able to prevent problems from arising during their interviews, such as communication and body language skills. Otherwise, it would negatively impact the interviewer by feeling confused and hesitant and hence the interviewee would not be able to explain other important information. An interviewee should be able to manage their emotions when asking questions, as the informant might not be able to continue or need some time to heal, and it should be completely acceptable for the interviewee to interviewee asks to leave. Another point regarding the interview is that the interviewer may lose the tape or video of the interview that he or she recorded, and this is not a problem if the informant refuses to schedule another interview. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized paper now from our 2003.