Tell Your Story! - Read Me First

Why Tell Stories

San Diego Public Library: Digital Story Station

How To Start

WHY TELL STORIES?

Stories help define who we are and how we fit into the world we live in. The digital story station gives you the opportunity to spotlight something, you care deeply about, and wish to preserve and share with friends and family as well as also add to the growing collection of digital stories available for public education and enjoyment. History is created out of many personal stories that become part of the larger context of our culture and society. Digital stories create a tapestry of individual experiences, each illuminating a piece of the larger story that we collectively share.

Creating your story will involve spoken words, but will be different than a conversation or speech covering the same territory. Creating your story may also use still images or home videos but it will become more than a simple photo album or slide show set to music. Your digital story has the potential to make art out of life and, thereby offer you a different perspective on some aspect of your own experiences and history.

      SAN DIEGO PUBLIC LIBRARY: DIGITAL STORY STATION

We welcome all storytellers!

In 2006, Media Arts Center San Diego partnered with the San Diego Public Library to recreate oral histories in the form of 3-5 minute digital stories.  Since then we have created hundreds of stories from the greater San Diego region.

In January 2011, Alan Lilienthal has taken up residence at the Digital Story Station with regular hours on Monday or Wednesday (depending on community needs) between Noon and 8 AND Sunday between 1 - 5 each week.  Contact us to make an appointment to meet with Alan and get your own digital story in the pipeline.

Do you have a particular story about the library system in San Diego?  With the new llibrary a few years away, we especially want to capture memories of where the library has been in the past, how it struggled to capture its future and the bright future of the public library in San Diego.  We will build a collection of stories that will be highlighted in community presentations and on the web.  Be a part of your library and community!  Tell your story with us.

TELL YOUR OWN STORY - HERE'S HOW...

Okay so you want to do it yourself at home?  Okay, you can do that!  Of course, we would love to see your work so contact us and let us know if you benefited from this online info!

First, read the orientation (below) - it will provide an overview of storytelling operations and the four-step process of finding and creating your own story.

ORIENTATION document (pdf)

When you're done reviewing this orientation document, we suggest that you review stories to get a better idea of this form of digital storytelling.

WATCH STORIES 

When you're done watching sample stories, go to Step 2 and start writing your own story with our easy to use online forms and documents.