Digital storytelling plays an increasingly visible part in our daily lives. Mobile technologies and apps put the tools to capture and create stories into our hands every day and some organisations are also exploring ways to use storytelling via online tools to engage stakeholders. As the Shanachie team from “This Week in Libraries” often remind us, the mission of libraries includes the goals to “keep stories, make stories, share stories”, increasingly many of these are digital stories.  Your library clients and colleagues may have many different objectives for their digital storytelling activities (eg teaching ESL, compiling local history, sharing family history, collecting oral histories, presenting information in data visualisations and community engagement).

DISCOVER:

• An example of digital storytelling about The Serengeti Lion  from @NatGeoMag
• Australian regional communities were telling their own stories in the @ABCOpen Day in the life project to capture a typical day in your life, or the life of someone you know – in a short video.
• A lot of people share information about #digitalstorytelling on Twitter, frequently with links to apps and project websites.
• Libraries collaborating with communities making and sharing stories include projects like the Queensland Stories  project and the Singapore Memory  program iniated and supported by the National Library Board of Singapore (read more in Chris Tang’s IFLA paper)
• Four LIS students explored the concept of digital storytelling for communities

EXPLORE:

• How interactive technology is transforming storytelling by Naomi Alderman
• University of Wollongong’s guide for library clients to Digital Storytelling resources
• Some digital storytelling tools on your mobile device include: Animoto (iOS and Android apps available ) Prezi (iPad app only), Voicethread (iOS app) and Slideshare.
• Find more digital storytelling links to explore on our Pinterest board.

THINKING POINTS:

• What roles does your library play in helping your communities to create, share and keep their own stories?
• How much of the digital storytelling that is happening in your community right now will be accessible in five years time? How could the library keep a sample for readers and researchers of the future?
• Are there priorities to consider when working with indigenous communities on digital storytelling projects? (eg. Kirsten Thorpe explores the Protocols for libraries and archives in Australia: incorporating Indigenous perspectives in the information field in her IFLA paper).
• Can you help clients locate the resources they need for digital storytelling projects (eg. public domain or Creative Commons licensed music and images, storytelling apps and web based tools)?
• What questions do you need to ask before setting up a digital storytelling project to capture local history? Prarienet have some useful tips to consider.