RIYADH: The Oral History Center of the King Abdul Aziz Foundation for Research and Archives (Darah) has archived around 6,000 interviews with Saudi nationals past and present, said the Saudi Press Agency. The Saudi Oral History Center was established in 1997. It was the third of its kind in the world, after the United States and Britain. Darah hosts millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts and is considered the main source of Saudi national history inside the Kingdom, and abroad through the Oral History Center. Darah assigned a number of specialized teams to carry out visits to the Kingdom’s different regions, speak to citizens about their histories, study sources of national history, and document the accounts of those who directly or indirectly contributed to the Kingdom’s history. It conducted audio-visual interviews with many contemporaries and witnesses, and transcribed them, and investigated those stories based on scientific and technical protocols. It did this in cooperation with universities and international centers specializing in oral history, and with national and regional institutions interested in oral history and heritage. Darah sees oral history — a precise account from eyewitnesses, or reported contemporary accounts — as an important resource. Many Western countries place great emphasis on oral histories and have established specialized centers to record and preserve such accounts. The Foundation also considers oral histories a useful tool that can fill gaps left in recorded history, especially regarding personal histories of families. Researching and recording oral histories can also provide the elderly with a sense of value and bring generations closer together.