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Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University
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Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

Dec 23, 2015

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Page 1: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital

Technology

Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University

Page 2: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

Family Histories and MemoirsAppalachian family and community stories are important; they pass

down a family’s or community’s history, values, triumphs and tragedies – lessons for future generations.

Most often, the oral tradition has served as the vehicle of preservation and transmission. However, some family and community histories have been preserved through the written word and through recorded audio. Now the digital world offers new and dramatic ways to preserve the stories of our Appalachian family and community members.

This session will focus on using various digital technologies to preserve family and community stories to advance our Appalachian cultural heritage. Through digital storytelling, we can create and preserve memoirs of our Appalachian kin and community elders.

The presenter will share examples of digital storytelling from her own practices and from her students’ projects, which focused on the stories of veterans and became a part of the Veterans History Project sponsored by the Library of Congress.

 

Page 3: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

What is digital storytelling?

Definitions Simply - using one or more multimedia

tools to tell a story

Page 4: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

What equipment can be used to create a digital story? Any or all of the following:

Digital Video Camera/Camcorder Digital Camera

Film Camera – Use scanner – scan photograph prints and other objects

Ask photo processor to create a photo CD Digital Audio Recorder

Microphone connected to computer Play audio from regular cassette and record –

quality will be less than perfect but at least you will have it!

Page 5: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

Types of Video Camcorders

Analog Mini DV Disc based Flash memory Hard-drive built in camera

Page 7: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

Mini DV Digital Video – Digital camcorder dominates

Mini DV tape format is most popular, but some digital video cameras store their recordings on dvds. Newer cameras use flash memory or store on the camera’s own hard drive

Top brands: Sony, Canon, JVC, Panasonic Prices range from a couple hundred dollars to over $1000

Mini DV tapes = 60 minutes Playback

On camera screen/viewer hook camera to TV or VCR/DVD player to watch on TV

screen Download to computer for editing and burn a DVD

“Going the way of the steam engine?”

Page 8: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

Disc Based

Record direct to DVD Hailed as more durable and you can skip

easily to specific scenes or parts (think cassette tape vs CD or VHS tape vs DVD)

Compatibility issues

Page 9: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

Flash memory based Camcorder Records to a small card, such as an SD

card

Page 10: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

Hard-drive based Camcorder Saves to the camera’s internal hard drive Pros –

Easier connectivity to computer Don’t have to buy tapes or dvds

Cons – Overall cost Storage space If a tape breaks, you can buy another tape for

recording. However, what will you do if the camera’s hard drive fails?

Image quality might not be as fine as MiniDV at the moment

Page 11: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

Digital Video Camera Accessories Tripod – a must

Also, if you buy a new camera, find out if it has an image stabilizer

External microphone – lavalier/lapel mic

Lighting

Page 12: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

Editing Software

PCs – Windows Movie Maker MAC –

iMovie and iDVD Final Cut Studio – contains Final Cut Pro

Page 13: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

What if I don’t have a digital video camera?

Images Use a regular digital camera for still shots Gather together old photographs and scan

them

Page 14: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

Audio Record a family member

telling a story Use a digital voice

recorder , such as an iPod voice recorder – then download audio file to computer

Regular cassette – play it next to your computer’s microphone and record/save to computer

Page 15: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

Putting together your digital story Make a storyboard to help you

organize your narration and images

Story IntroductionGrandma as storyteller – told ghost stories

Grandma told story of old woman who had to smoke outside

Page 16: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

Memories of others – video or audio tape them

Photos Video of the

subject Audio of the

subject Your own

memories – be the narrator

What makes a digital story?

Page 17: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

Grandma was a storyteller

Wishes and regrets

Rick Bragg’s influence

Mailed questionnaires and started interviewing family members

Video Memoir of Grandma Johnson

Page 18: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

Grandma Johnson – Introduction to Video Memoir

Page 19: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

My HON 396 Storytelling Students’ Veteran’s History Projects

Major project – select a veteran (any 20th Century war) interview veteran

record audio of interview(s) take notes during interview

transcribe the audio interview write a narrative journalism story prepare classroom presentation

Page 20: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

HON 396 – Spring 2005

Tell Me a Tale: The Culture of Storytelling in Oral History, Narrative Journalism and Literature

Student presentations

Page 21: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

How do I start?

Start small Define your

subject Think memoir,

not biography or autobiography

Write! Gather your

pictures & scan them

Gather videos if you have them

Shoot your own videos if you can

Take still shots with digital camera or film camera

Storyboard

Page 22: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

Interviewing What questions should I ask?

Veteran’s History Project – suggested questions

Interviewing tips: Share questions ahead of time Select a quiet, well-lit, comfortable

environment Make sure you have a microphone and tape!

Test before launching into interview Ask open-ended (rather than yes/no) questions Start a question with “tell me about …”

Page 23: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

Editing

At work I use Windows Movie Maker At home I use iMovie and iDVD on my

iMac Will need lots of hard drive or external

hard drive for movie Be aware of copyright issues Burn a dvd

Page 24: Digitizing Appalachia: Creating Family and Community Memoirs through Digital Technology Jennifer Sias ~ Marshall University.

Questions?

Thank you! Jennifer Sias, M.S.L.S. & M.A.

Associate Professor, Information Literacy Librarian

Marshall University Libraries, Drinko 136 [email protected] 304-696-6577