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There is no big secret that from the beginning of time people communicated through story. Cavemen drew pictures that illustrated their story. Different tribes of people even before written language existed passed down their stories from one generation to another. It is how people share their history and their wisdom with their young. Even today, when people and technology have come so far, that tradition still remains. We watch television that tells us a story. We read books that tell us stories. We go home and our children tell us the story of how their day went. It is key to who we are as humans.

Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash

For this reason, the blog that I wanted to share is one that many may be familiar with. Looking back on our resources for the digital storytelling assignment, I realized that this site had been mentioned as a resource for examples. I really did not look past the sample page at that time. When I started trying to build my blog resources, however, StoryCenter popped up in my searches. It offers training in person and online. They have recorded digital storytelling workshops, also. One thing that I found most interesting, however, is the StoryCenter's blog posts. The blog contains a lot of interesting articles related to all forms of storytelling and the storytellers behind them. They include anything from social justice storytelling to the pandemic and digital documentation. If you are looking for research or professional opinion in the storytelling art, you will probably find it on this blog.

Image linked from StoryCenter's blog post, AI AND DIGITAL STORYTELLING - STORYCENTER'S JOE LAMBERT INTERVIEWS BRIAN ALEXANDER, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

One particular blog entry that I found interesting and compelling for anyone in the library sciences is about the subject of AI. Photo editing is being done nearly instantaneously where it painstakingly takes hours in PhotoShop sometimes. ChatGPT can write research papers and pass the bar exam. Considering how far this technology has come rather quickly with its learning capability, I think a lot of creative industries have questioned if their work will become obsolete. StoryCenter discusses their thoughts on how it will effect digital storytelling as well as education in the future. The consensus seems to remain that it could increase productivity in some of the more menial tasks that no one wants to do, but as Bryan and Joe point out, however, people will always need humanity and crave the realism that comes with a person-to-person interaction. (Hill, 2023). They also mention a very important factor that often gets left out of the conversation, in my opinion. They discuss how China and other countries have restricted its use, which could indicate the potential use of AI in propaganda distribution which would be yet another concern in information literacy education.

Photo by Leo Manjarrez on Unsplash

StoryCenter also did an interview on their blog regarding the ethical practices of sharing someone else's story. This brings into question the morality and decision making behind what is ok to share and what is better left unsaid when other people are involved. These are things most people should think of even in their daily life much less their professional life. Syrga Kanatbek Kyzy tells about her experience when she shared the story of her life and the struggles she faced being the poor daughter of an alcoholic coming to the United States from Kyrgyzstan. While growing up with an alcoholic father was a part of the struggle she faced and that she wanted to share, her family was not as thrilled with her sharing this. They were ashamed and the stigmatism of alcoholism was a hard one for them to come to terms with. Syrga mentions some ways that she would change how she dealt with and managed the media and includes some very sound advice to others doing interviews about their life. Some of these include being allowed the opportunity to review and make changes to the interview documentation, understanding why they want the interview, as well as knowing that she is allowed to say no. Obviously, storytelling on any stage brings with it some ethical and moral responsibilities we must keep in mind.

Image linked from StoryCenter's blog post, YOUR VOICE IS YOUR CREATIVITY: BUILDING SAFE SPACES FOR CREATIVE EXPRESSION

The third article from StoryCenter that drew my attention addressed how adults tend to lose confidence in their own creativity. The author of the article, Evelyn Thorne, participated in one of the workshops held by StoryCenter. What she learned from the experience was that the people who utilize digital storytelling tended to come from all walks of life and experience levels using their own creative voice. Despite these differences, the place felt like a safe space for everyone to be free to be themselves. This is an important factor in encouraging creativity. Ms. Thorne even created an outlined her own 12 best practices based on the StoryCenter's Bill of Rights in relation to creating a safe space. I would like to spend more time looking over the steps that StoryCenter lays out for digital storytelling as I believe it could be helpful in my own process.

Finally, I believe that The Center for Digital Storytelling's website and blog, StoryCenter, contains a wealth of information that will be useful for those entering a career in the library sciences, or even those just interested in using storytelling in their classroom or work environment. Not only does this site provide opportunities for furthering education, but it gives good examples of the importance of storytelling in multiple different instances. In the same ways that having students read a variety of materials about different cultures and places, hearing stories about other people's life stories, their experiences and struggles, can create empathy and can create initiatives for change. Words are a powerful tool and learning how to use them is beneficial for us all. Hearing more stories, I believe also makes us better able to voice our own. In addition, StoryCenter addresses many issues that storytellers and educators will be faced with. It is always helpful to hear the opinion of other professionals as we are continuously learning and re-evaluating our own stances.

What I am Reading This Week: Comedy Stories

• A Bunny is Funny by Harriet Ziefert

• Do Not Open This Book by Andy Lee

• The Boring Book by Adam Ciccio

• Who's on First? by Abbott and Costello

• My Dad Thinks He's Funny by Katrina Germein

• Carol Burnett by Andrea Posner-Sanchez

• The Inflatables in Bad Air Day by Beth Garrod & Jess Hitchman

References:

Hill, A. (2023, August 9). Ai and Digital Storytelling - StoryCenter’s Joe Lambert interviews Brian Alexander, Georgetown University. STORYCENTER. https://www.storycenter.org/storycenter-blog//ai-and-digital-storytelling

Hill, A. (2022, January 20). Grounding the telling of others’ stories in ethical practice: An interview with Syrga Kanatbek Kyzy. STORYCENTER. https://www.storycenter.org/storycenter-blog//grounding-the-telling-of-others-stories-in-ethical-practice-an-interview-with-syrga-kanatbek-kyzy

Thorne, E. (2017, March 4). Your voice is your creativity: Building Safe Spaces for creative expression. STORYCENTER. https://www.storycenter.org/storycenter-blog/blog/2015/6/23/your-voice-is-your-creativity-building-safe-spaces-for-creative-expression