Comparative Study of Methods of Organizing Oral History Documents and Records from the Perspective of Some Oral History Centers in Iran and all over the World

Purpose: The aim of this research is to study different methods of organizing oral history documents and records available in some oral history centers inside and outside Iran. It also aims to identify the most common organizing methods applied in oral history centers.
 Methodology/Approach: This research is conducted by using a descriptive and analytical survey. The research population consists of 7 active centers of oral history inside Iran and 12 outside Iran. The geographic distribution of the centers is taken into account so that the population includes centers from various parts of the world. The required data is collected through interviews with officials of the oral history centers. Then a comparative assessment is conducted on the collected data in order to identify the most common organization methods applied in centers of oral history.
 Findings: The findings suggest that about 86% of Iran’s oral history centers studied in this research usually use alphabetic order of the family name of interviewees for organizing oral history documents. The studies conducted in other countries’ oral history centers note that these centers apply completely different and various systems for organizing their oral history documents.
 Conclusion: The research findings clearly indicate a lack of homogeneity and integration in organizing oral history documents and this must be noticed by relevant authorities.