Week 2 Response

            In the readings this week we have explored a couple important aspects of digital storytelling, videos and pictures. There are a couple well known websites that rank second to none when it comes to people sharing their pictures and videos with the world. You Tube allows people to easily post personal videos and search for videos that interest them. Flickr similarly allows people to share their pictures, and comment on pictures posted by others. These websites are great ways for ordinary people to tell their stories digitally. They are also proving to be good tools for public history institutions to utilize digital storytelling to share their stories.

            Public history institutions, such as museums and archives, have been using a feature of Flickr known as The Commons to share their photo collections with the world. According to The Commons home page, “The key goal of The Commons is to share hidden treasures from the world’s public photography archives.” Visitors of The Commons are also encouraged to leave comments or add tags to the photos they find. So not only are The Commons a way for organizations to share their photographs, it is also a way for the general public to contribute information and knowledge to these pictures. The best thing about The Commons is that some truly remarkable photographs which are publicly owned can finally be viewed by the public. Very few people can go to The Library of Congress or the National Archives to see these photos. But thanks to The Commons, these photographs can be conveniently viewed in one place while providing viewers a way to contribute their own insight to the collections.

            Museums and other public history organizations are also using YouTube to share their stories in a variety of ways. One thing that You Tube can do for organizations such as these is help to extend their collections beyond the physical confines of their facilities. The National Archives for example have posted several videos on You Tube to describe their collections. This way they can show people some of their more guarded collections that are normally difficult for the public to view. One You Tube video posted by The National Archives describes their room for treasures, which holds some of their more interesting collections including several documents that refer to the Yeti. Much like The Commons, You Tube allows institutions such as The National Archives to share special collections with the world which would otherwise be difficult to see.

            Pictures and videos are extremely important to digital storytelling. As they say a picture is worth 1,000 words, and our ability to use these digital mediums effectively will help us to tell our stories as best we can. You Tube and Flickr are both effective and easy to use. I encourage all aspiring digital storytellers to use these websites to help tell your story.            

Rough Draft of Expo '74 Bibliography

This is a rough draft of the bibliography I will use to make my tour of Expo ’74. I used Zotero to put this together and they do not provide Turabian as a citation style, so I used Chicago 16^th edition. My final bibliography will be in Turabian. I still need to do some digging for photos.  

 

Expo ’74 Tour: Preliminary Bibliography

 

Secondary:

 

Bowers, Dawn. Expo “74 World”s Fair, Spokane. Spokane: Expo  ’74 Corp., 1974.

 

Bryson J. “Greening Urban Renewal: Expo  ’74, Urban Environmentalism and Green Space on the Spokane Riverfront, 1965-1974.” J. Urban Hist. Journal of Urban History 39, no. 3 (2013): 495–512.

 

Dalen, George M, Clyde R Tipton, and Expo (International Exhibitions Bureau). “Creating the Future, Agendas for Tomorrow: International Symposium III, October 28-30, 1974, Expo  ’74 ... Spokane, Washington, USA.” Battelle Memorial Institute, 1974.

 

Expo  ’74. Environmental Impact Statement, Expo  ’74. Spokane, Wash.: Spokane World Exposition, 1972.

 

Kartevold, Alison, and Wash.) KSPS-TV (Television station : Spokane. Reflections by the River Expo  ’74. Spokane, WA: KSPS Public Television, 1994.

 

Merriam, Willis Bungay. Spokane: Background to Expo  ’74,. Pullman, Wash.: W.B. Merriam, 1974.

 

Spokesman-review. Souvenir Issue: Here Is Expo  ’74. Spokane, Wash.: The Spokesman-review, 1974.

 

Youngs, J. William T. The Fair and the Falls: Spokane’s Expo  ’74 : Transforming an American Environment. Cheney, Wash.: Eastern Washington University Press, 1996.

 

Primary:

Cole, King F. “King Cole Papers,” (1964).

 

Coons, Shotwell. “Coons, Shotwell, Clark and Associates Expo’74 Records,” (1970).

 

Expo (International Exhibitions Bureau). “Expo  ’74 Folklife Festival Records,” (1974).

 

The Rainbow Seekers: Stories of Spokane, the Expo City, and the Inland Empire. Spokane: Wescoast Pub. Co., 1974.

 

Images:

 

Expo “74 World”s Fair. Instructional Media Center, Eastern Washington University, 1974.

Week One Readings Response

            In this first week of class the readings have introduced us to digital storytelling, and given us several examples of what digital storytelling might look like. These examples ranged from a short video on a day in the life of a Stony Brook marching band member, to a twenty minute long interactive piece which follows the life and demise of a Canadian grizzly bear. Despite the numerous examples which were provided to us, we still had some trouble defining digital storytelling in class. There was no trouble listing its characteristics. Digital storytelling consists of materials which exist as electronic files only. It has been made possible by new technologies and social media. It can include multiple forms of digital media such as pictures, text, or video. It can present something to its audience or be more interactive. These are all things that describe digital storytelling, but we still have not defined it very well. Perhaps the best definition for this kind of storytelling, would be, storytelling for the twenty-first century.

            Digital storytelling defined as storytelling for the twenty-first century makes sense for several reasons. First, it is not hard to see how digital storytelling is the best way for an ordinary person to tell their story in today’s world. First, it is relatively easy to use the technology associated with digital storytelling, such as cameras, voice recorders, and laptops. Most people can easily access this equipment and use tutorials on the internet if they are unfamiliar with how to use them or the editing software. Second, telling a story digitally is the best way to get your story out there. As many writers know, it is extremely difficult to publish a story you have written, and you may experience failure hundreds of times before someone decides to publish your work. On the contrary, anyone can post a short video on YouTube. Anyone can create a blog, or a Facebook page to share their stories with the world. The last reason why digital storytelling is storytelling for the twenty-first century has to do with the way people are seeking information. Ordinary people are more likely to seek information on the internet than anywhere else these days. When someone needs to know something, they will sooner Google it than visit a library. In this way, by telling your story digitally, you are telling your story where people are most likely to hear it.

www.edudemic.com - 677 × 450 - Search by image

by Lisi Gopin

            Digital storytelling is storytelling for the twenty-first century. Now more than ever we can share our thoughts, experience, and information in a relatively fast and easy way. The best part is that through digital storytelling, anyone can tell their story.