Digital storytelling: an opportunity for libraries to lead in the digital age
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DeGrooteSchool.ca Digital Storytelling: An Opportunity for Libraries to Lead in the Digital Age Presentation to Centre for Social Informa tics , Edinburgh Napier University, July 16, 2015 Dr. Brian Detlor
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Transcript of Digital storytelling: an opportunity for libraries to lead in the digital age
DeGrooteSchool.ca
Digital Storytelling: An Opportunity for Libraries to Lead
in the Digital AgePresentation to
Centre for Social Informatics, Edinburgh Napier University, July
16, 2015
Dr. Brian DetlorMcMaster University, Hamilton,
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Good to be back!
My last visit to Edinburgh was in June 2011
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Key Facts About McMaster Founded in 1887 21,441 full-time undergraduate students 3,519 full-time graduate students Located in Hamilton, Ontario
• Ninth largest city in Canada• 42 miles southwest of Toronto• 50 miles west of Niagara Falls
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About the Speaker Computer Science background Information systems “real-world” work experience Masters & PhD in Information Studies Have worked at McMaster’s business school since July
2000• Teach undergraduate, MBA, & PhD students• Served as the Chair of the McMaster Research Ethics
Board for the last 4 years• Recently appointed as “Chair” of the Information
Systems department at the DeGroote School of Business for the next 3 years
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Today’s Talk
The Back Story The “Faculty Member in Residence” Experience
at McMaster University Library
Digital Storytelling What is it? An Opportunity for Libraries The “Love Your Cities, Share Your Stories”
(LYCSYS) digital storytelling initiative• The initiative • The research project
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Faculty Member in Residence
This is where a McMaster faculty member spends his or her sabbatical year conducting research AND helping librarians to think about and conduct their own research
Brian Detlor, McMaster’s inauguralFaculty Member in Residence (2013-14)
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Faculty Member in Residence
Before I started this position, the University Librarian and I:
Identified one core project (analyzing LibQUAL comments with the Director of Assessment)
Proposed some possible first steps (kickoff meeting with librarian group, individual meetings with each librarian)
Planned some orientation (e.g., departmental visits)
Beyond that, we agreed to shape the program as we went along
Very fluid!
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Faculty Member in Residence
Two major activities:1. Conducting Research
• I wanted to work on projects pertaining to libraries that were of practical relevance to librarians
• Emphasis was on exploring new opportunities
2. Serving as Coach• I wanted to help librarians with all things
“research”
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Faculty Member in Residence
A very successful initiative. Outputs include:
Several in-house presentations and reports Three conference presentations Two journal articles National exposure
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Faculty Member in Residence
Success factors FMR has strong interests in LIS FMR was given an office in the library FMR had many opportunities to interact
with librarians and other library staff Strong senior library leadership support The FMR was given an official title Considerable flexibility was given to how
the FMR program played out
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Faculty Member in Residence
If other institutions wish to replicate the FMR program:
Ensure senior library management buy-in Find a suitable and willing faculty member Expect some initial apprehension
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Faculty Member in Residence
The FMR program is a viable solution The FMR program addresses many of the
barriers to librarian-led research identified in the library literature
• Improves librarian research skills & confidence by providing access to expert research guidance
Research guidance that is approachable Research guidance that is accessible at critical
points in time in the research process
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Faculty Member in Residence
During my stint as FMR, I ran a “knowledge café”
This is where the idea of a “digital storytelling” project originated!
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What is Digital Storytelling?
Digital storytelling combines the art of telling stories with the use of digital media.
It involves the whole range of personal stories told in potentially public form using digital media resources (Couldry, 2008, Hartley & McWilliam, 2009).
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What is Digital Storytelling?
Key characteristics of a digital story, as defined by the Center for Digital Storytelling (CDS) in Berkeley, California, in the early 1990s:1. self-revelation; 2. the use of a personal or first person voice;3. lived experiences in a moment of time or a
series of moments; 4. the use of photos more than moving images;5. the use of a soundtrack; 6. a compact length and design 7. intention
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What is Digital Storytelling?
An updated definition is likely needed Should take popular social networking tools
(like FaceBook and YouTube), digital geospatial tools (such as global positioning systems, beacons), and multi-media tools (e.g., interactive wall displays) into consideration.
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Beacons
A beacon device An Example: Kew Gardens
Source: https://jonpaullittle.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/presentation1.pdf
Snapshot #1 Snapshot #2
Hamilton Beacon Demo:
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Interactive Wall Display
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Historical Digital Storytelling
Overwhelmingly the most popular focus of digital storytelling around the globe (McWilliam, 2009)
Typically led by cultural institutions, such as museums and libraries
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Historical Digital Storytelling
Benefits Provides the public the means to articulate
their own stories and opportunities for these stories to be valued (Mackay and Heck, 2013; Thumin, 2009).
Empowers members of the public with a voice and allows citizens to speak back to cultural institutions that have in the past represented their voice (Mackay and Heck, 2013).
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Historical Digital Storytelling
Challenges Difficult to produce and share historical digital
stories that reflect a wide, yet accurate, range of diverse and authentic community experiences, and not just those that represent top-down curatorial practice.
• Cultural institutions inherently alter the authenticity of stories provided by project participants (Friedlander, 2008; Mackay and Heck, 2013)
• Sponsoring organizations rarely play a neutral role in the storytelling process and, in fact, mediate the digital stories produced (Dush, 2012).
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Lessons Learned from Marketers
Retail marketers love digital storytelling but suffer consequences when digital stories “backfire”
Example: Consumers were disappointed to find out that the enormously popular Tim Hortons commercial that featured an African immigrant welcoming his family to Canada with winter coats and coffee was a fabricated story.
The commercial was later altered to include the words “based on a true story” in the video.
Consumers demand authenticity and transparency
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The Video
Good points about the digital story: Is short in duration Has an emotional appeal Has a likeable main character Has a story with a climax Has an actual beginning, middle and end Has inspirational background music that
tugs at the heart strings
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An Opportunity for Libraries
A recent report from the Council of Canadian Academies (2015) advocates memory institutions (such as libraries, archives, & museums) take a leadership role in today’s digital world.• Memory institutions are
collectors and preservers of cultural heritage.
• Digital technologies offer many opportunities for the public to both access and contribute materials entrusted by memory institutions.
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An Opportunity for Libraries
The report asks how libraries might embrace the opportunities & challenges posed in the digital age
One “answer” is digital storytelling. Specifically, digital storytelling initiatives led by
libraries can relate to opportunities outlined in the report. 1. Help memory institutions exercise their capacity to
lead.2. Fundamentally change the relationship between
memory institutions and people for the better (i.e., establish a sustainable and authentic relationship with the public).
3. Deliver enhanced services that users expect in the digital age.
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An Opportunity for Libraries
Opportunities come with challenges! Technical challenges Financial challenges Digital data challenges Reliability and authenticity challenges Legal and accountability challenges User challenges Collaboration challenges Relevancy challenges Changing role challenges
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An Opportunity for Libraries
Figure 3.2: “Framework for Realizing Opportunities for Adapting to the Digital Age” (www.scienceadvice.ca/en/assessments/completed/memory-institutions.aspx)
• The report is called “Leading in the Digital World: Opportunities for Canada’s Memory Institutions”
• 208 pages long!
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An Example: DOKLAB
http://www.doklab.nl/en/
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An Example: DOKLAB An interactive multi-touch table
allows users to easily create their own stories.
A CMS works with the table to allow users to access the library’s digital archives.
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The LYCSYS Initiative
Overview: Involves the creation, storage and dissemination
of a collective memory of digital stories concerning significant cultural icons in Hamilton and their history as a means to promote the City of Hamilton to others
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The LYCSYS Initiative
Initially, stories will centre around 4 “themes” though many other themes will be developed
Gore Park Music Tim Horton’s Libraries
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The LYCSYS Initiative
Will leverage library materials stored at MUL and HPL to help render the digital stories produced
One idea is to embed historic “Fire Insurance Plans” in a “Google Earth”-like environment to allow people to visualize historic and current-day Hamilton.
• Can “click” on buildings, statues, fountains etc. in this environment and access stories about those buildings, statues, fountains etc.
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The LYCSYS Initiative
Outputs A collection of stories An entire story development process
• Identification and selection of cultural & historical icons
• Recruitment strategies to collect stories• Identification of story parameters• Development of story curation approaches• Roll out of guidelines for story dissemination and
marketing• Implementation of a scalable digital repository and
story delivery mechanisms (e.g., website, large interactive LED display, mobile apps, iBeacons)
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The LYCSYS Initiative
Governance A steering committee comprises
representatives from MUL, HPL and the City of Hamilton and meets monthly
Several sub-teams exist where each sub-team works on defined “action items”
• Cultural and Historic Icons• Story Collection• Story Dissemination & Marketing Approaches• Infrastructure: LED display, Mobile Apps, Website,
Beacons, Digital Repository• Evaluation (performance measurement)• Research
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The Research Project
In Spring 2015, McMaster researchers received a grant from the Social Sciences & Humanities Council of Canada (SSHRC)
Received $199,789 over 3 years Principal Investigator: Dr. Brian Detlor Co-Investigators: Drs. Maureen Hupfer, Walter
Peace, David Harris Smith Partners: Hamilton Public Library, McMaster
University Library, and the City of Hamilton’s Tourism & Culture Division
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The Research Project
Purpose To investigate the role and effect of municipal
cultural organizations, such as local libraries and city cultural departments, in their use of digital storytelling to promote a city or region as a place to be
How can digital storytelling be used for place promotion?
• Place is more than physical space• Branding a city or region as a “place to be”:
Encourages business and economic advantage Fosters community identity, heritage and cultural
pride
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The Research Project
The project investigates four research questions1. What are the salient characteristics of
digital stories that make them effective as a promotion of place for a city or region?• Are geo-references in digital stories useful? • Does authenticity and transparency matter? • Do multiple perspectives add or detract value? • What key elements of a digital story need to be in
place for a digital story to promote a city or region?
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The Research Project
The project investigates four research questions2. What is the utility of leveraging recent
advances in information technology as potential tools for collecting and disseminating digital stories for promotion of place?• These technologies include LED displays, apps,
websites, digital archives, iBeacons etc.• Are these technologies useful in promoting a city
or region? If so, in what ways? • What are the limitations of this technology? • How can municipalities better utilize newer
information technologies for digital storytelling initiatives?
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The Research Project
The project investigates four research questions3. What are the mediating effects of a
cultural organization’s involvement in a digital storytelling initiative on the digital stories produced, and shared, and the utility of the digital stories to promote a city or region as a place to be?• How, and to what extent, does a municipal
cultural organization influence, either negatively or positively, the collection, production and distribution of digital stories?
• What effect does that influence have on the utility of digital storytelling for place promotion?
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The Research Project
The project investigates four research questions4. How does digital storytelling affect the
role of municipal cultural institutions (e.g., libraries) themselves?• By embracing digital storytelling, libraries are
taking on new responsibilities & roles They are taking on a leadership role in stewarding
digital stories concerning cultural and historical icons.
They are becoming creators of information, as opposed to just providing access to information
They are branding a city and are assuming the lead on this activity in the community
• What is the affect of these new responsibilities & roles?
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The Research Project
Main research activities: INTERVIEWS (led by Brian Detlor):
• Conduct one-on-one semi-structured interviews with those who contributed or viewed stories pertaining to the digital story initiative, as well as with key informants who worked on the initiative.
• Qualitative analysis will elicit insights on each of the four research questions.
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The Research Project
Main research activities: DETERMINE SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS OF
A DIGITAL STORY (led by Maureen Hupfer): • Ask participants to assess (rate, rank, comment
upon) rendered digital stories from the storytelling initiative according to characteristics deemed important from the one-on-one interviews and a literature review on digital storytelling.
• Statistically analyze which characteristics have more of a perceived impact in promoting the city as a place to be.
• Potentially use LIVELab A 96 seat performance theatre and testing centre
• Addresses research question 1
LIVElab
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The Research Project
Main research activities: PUBLIC PARTICIPATORY ARTWORK (led by
David): • Develop and assess public participatory digital
storytelling artwork that engages the public to participate in the collection & dissemination of digital stories• Leverage recent advances in IT such as social
media, social robotics, AI, GPS, 3G/4G wireless connectivity, LED displays, iBeacons etc.
• Publically accessible data generated and associated with the artwork will be subjected to multimodal data analysis methods to assess variables such as reach, influence, and affect.
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The Research Project Not a one-time deal
Plans are to keep researching this topic for many years to come
Continue investigating Hamilton’s LYCSYS initiative
Rally interest from other cities and regions• Across Canada• Internationally
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RECAP: Today’s Talk
The Back Story The “Faculty Member in Residence” Experience
at McMaster University Library
Digital Storytelling What is it? An Opportunity for Libraries The “Love Your Cities, Share Your Stories”
(LYCSYS) digital storytelling initiative• The initiative • The research project
DeGrooteSchool.ca
Digital Storytelling: An Opportunity for Libraries to Lead
in the Digital AgePresentation to
Centre for Social Informatics, Edinburgh Napier University, July
16, 2015
Dr. Brian DetlorMcMaster University, Hamilton,
