| This study investigated how collections of oral history interviews have been created, processed, disseminated and maintained for use by describing the establishment and governance patterns; purposes; operational procedures; management and funding mechanisms; cooperative activities; and goals of selected oral history programs in North America. These descriptions were used to document how oral history processes can affect the content and dissemination of oral history products.;Fourteen oral history programs (twelve in the United States and two in Canada) were selected as a representative sample of programs that have been operative over five years and whose collections were being created for deposit in a pre-existing library or archive. The sample also represented diversity in programs' purposes, types of sponsoring institutions, and funding sources.;Data were collected from programs' printed documentation and through the use of three instruments: institutional profile questionnaire, interview schedules and observation checklist. Investigation results are described in brief program profiles and a detailed cross-case comparison of programs' development and operations.;Five hypotheses were tested concerning factors influencing establishment and operations of programs.;Leadership from persons interested in oral history techniques was the first influence and most apparent continuing force in the establishment, governance and definition of program purposes. The availability, sources, continuity, and parameters of funding influenced choices of subjects documented and methodologies employed.;The creation and processing of oral history interviews are influenced by programs' purposes, personnel, and by the programs' relationships with persons interviewed. The observation of agreements and obligations between the programs and their interviewees, entered into as a by-product of joint creation of interviews, is considered vital to the continuation of the oral history process.;Programs differ in their response to influential variables and in their application of oral history purposes to the interviews created. The format of interviews deposited in research collections and the nature of publicly available information about the circumstances of the interviews vary among programs investigated.;The findings in this study indicate a need for increased emphasis on educating users, librarians, and archivists about unique properties of research sources labeled "oral history". |
