History has become multi-disciplinary and allows sociologists, psychologists, storytellers, scientists, basically anyone to write a history. Even people who wish to learn their genealogies are able to write their own history. History is always being rewritten and there can never be a last word. Oral history was once seen as unreliable, but has gone through a revival in the Twentieth Century due to new types of communication. In some areas, oral history is the only historical source, since many people now use televisions, phones, and computers.
Oral history can be indispensable for information for describing events and lives.
However, there is a prejudice against oral history due to respect for the written word. Oral history can be distorted and literate societies are often believed to be superior to oral cultures. Written history has a longer notion of time, it is unchanging, and has a better chronological thinking and order. Oral histories, such as chronicles, epics, and sagas, feature an emphasis on personality. They are inadequate but give interesting and illustrative details, and are an important form of archives.