Research seminar presentation to staff of the Centre for Social Informatics at Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland by Dr Brian Detlor of McMaster University, Canada on 16th July 2015.

1. DeGrooteSchool.ca
Digital Storytelling: An Opportunity for
Libraries to Lead in the Digital Age
Presentation to Centre for Social Informatics,
Edinburgh Napier University, July 16, 2015
Dr. Brian Detlor
McMaster University, Hamilton, CANADA
detlorb@mcmaster.ca

2. DeGrooteSchool.ca
Good to be back!
 My last visit to Edinburgh was in June 2011

3. DeGrooteSchool.ca

4. DeGrooteSchool.ca
 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

5. DeGrooteSchool.ca
 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

6. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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

7. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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 inaugural
Faculty Member in Residence (2013-14)

8. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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!

9. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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”

10. DeGrooteSchool.ca
Faculty Member in Residence
 A very successful initiative. Outputs include:
 Several in-house presentations and reports
 Three conference presentations
 Two journal articles
 National exposure

11. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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

12. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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

13. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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

14. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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!

15. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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).

16. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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

17. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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.

18. DeGrooteSchool.ca
Beacons
A beacon device An Example: Kew Gardens

19. Source: https://jonpaullittle.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/presentation1.pdf

20. Snapshot #1 Snapshot #2
Hamilton Beacon Demo:

21. DeGrooteSchool.ca
Interactive Wall Display

22. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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

23. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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).

24. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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).

25. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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

26. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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

27. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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.

28. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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.

29. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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

30. DeGrooteSchool.ca
An Opportunity for Libraries
Figure 3.2: “Framework for
Realizing Opportunities for
Adapting to the Digital Age”
(www.scienceadvice.ca/en/assessm
ents/completed/memory-
institutions.aspx)
• The report is called “Leading
in the Digital World:
Opportunities for Canada’s
Memory Institutions”
• 208 pages long!

31. DeGrooteSchool.ca
An Example: DOKLAB
http://www.doklab.nl/en/

32. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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.

33. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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

34. DeGrooteSchool.ca
The LYCSYS Initiative
 Initially, stories will centre around 4 “themes”
though many other themes will be developed
Gore Park Music Tim Horton’s Libraries

35. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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.

37. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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)

38. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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

39. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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

40. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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

41. DeGrooteSchool.ca
The Research Project
 The project investigates four research questions
1. 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?

42. DeGrooteSchool.ca
The Research Project
 The project investigates four research questions
2. 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?

43. DeGrooteSchool.ca
The Research Project
 The project investigates four research questions
3. 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?

44. DeGrooteSchool.ca
The Research Project
 The project investigates four research questions
4. 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?

45. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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.

46. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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

47. LIVElab

48. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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.

49. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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

50. DeGrooteSchool.ca
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

51. DeGrooteSchool.ca
Questions
Brian Detlor
detlorb@mcmaster.ca

52. DeGrooteSchool.ca
Digital Storytelling: An Opportunity for
Libraries to Lead in the Digital Age
Presentation to Centre for Social Informatics,
Edinburgh Napier University, July 16, 2015
Dr. Brian Detlor
McMaster University, Hamilton, CANADA
detlorb@mcmaster.ca