Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives

The Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives (DALN) is an online public archive of personal literacy narratives. The DALN collects narratives ranging in formats and composition styles to include traditional and unconventional self-exploratory mediums such as video essays, drawings and written narratives.[1] In 2005, Cynthia Selfe, H. Lewis Ulman, and Scott DeWitt at Ohio State University began development of the DALN with the purpose of creating and preserving a diverse and accessible collection of personal narratives.[2] Literacy narratives are personal accounts of the development of ones reading or writing.[3] Literacy narratives come in many formats including drawings, written narratives, and video accounts.[4] Scholars have described literacy narratives as a teaching method used to teach reflection and awareness in writing classes[5]. While most visitors to the site are from the United States, the DALN has developed a worldwide audience, and as of 2021, there were over 8,000 submissions from countries on six of seven continents.[6]

Origin

The original purpose of DALN, as stated by its creators, was to create an accessible collection of literacy narratives for the purpose of literacy research.[6] With origins in writing studies research, its creators sought to capture the development of narratives, to challenge notable definitions of literacy, and create a dynamic way for collaborators, readers and researchers to interact.[6]Because the DALN is publicly accessible, scholars have examined how it's publicity has shaped the archive.[7] In recent years DALN has been implemented in writing studies courses, with the intent of promoting literacy through personal inquiry.[8]

Implementation in writing courses

The DALN has been implemented in undergraduate writing courses as a tool to improve writing, research, and analytical skills. [9] The DALN allows students to engage with topics that they care about and connect personal narrative stories with academic discourses.[10] By implementing the DALN students acquire digital literacy skills that are often ignored in basic writing courses.[11] The DALN improves accessibility to students as many of the narrative stories on it are in video or audio form which can help students who struggle to read and analyze written English. [11] Students can look at narratives for free from a diverse set of people and realize their own narrative contributions have value in academic discourse. [11] The literacy ability of students whose primary language is not English can get ignored in traditional writing classes because they may better express their ideas in another language or form.[12] The DALN can allow them to share their complex ideas and narrative stories more accurately.[12]

Many writing instructors such as Mary O'Connor and Kara Poe Alexander have implemented the DALN into assignments in their courses. O'Connor uses the DALN as an assignment in her college English class.[12] The students first look for narratives on the DALN that interest them or that they can relate to.[12] They then go on to write their own literacy narrative and compose a video version of it. [12] Alexander requires her students in her college literacy course to upload their literacy stories to the DALN.[7] Alexander claims that students contributing to the DALN is important because it gives students the opportunity to participate in public discourse and analyze literacy artifacts.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ Comer, Kathryn B.; Harker, Michael (March 2015). "The Pedagogy of the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives: A Survey". Computers and Composition. 35: 65–85. doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2015.01.001.
  2. ^ Bryson, Krista (September 2012). "The Literacy Myth in the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives". Computers and Composition. 29 (3): 254–268. doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2012.06.001.
  3. ^ Westphal, Elena (2024). Representations of language learning and literacy: how to read literacy narratives. Literary criticism and cultural theory. New York London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN 978-1-032-63553-8.
  4. ^ Chandler, Sally W. (2013). New literacy narratives from an urban university: analyzing stories about reading, writing and changing technologies. New dimensions in computers and composition. New York, New York: Hampton Press, Inc. ISBN 978-1-61289-118-7.
  5. ^ Schmertz, Johanna (2018). "Writing Our Academic Selves: The Literacy Autobiography as Performance". Pedagogy, vol. 18 no. 2, 2018, p. 279-293. Project MUSE,.
  6. ^ a b c Comer, Kathryn; Harker, Michael; McCorkle, Ben (2021). "Unruly Practice: Critically Evaluating the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives". Across the Disciplines. 18 (1–2): 201–217. doi:10.37514/ATD-J.2021.18.1-2.16. ISSN 1554-8244. S2CID 242026580.
  7. ^ a b c "Rendering Private Writing Public in the DALN". compositionforum.com. Retrieved 2026-03-04.
  8. ^ Stories that Speak to Us : Exhibits from the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives. H. Lewis Ulman, Scott Lloyd DeWitt, Cynthia L. Selfe, Tim Lockridge, Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives. Logan, Utah. 2013. ISBN 978-0-87421-923-4. OCLC 858611593.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. ^ Alexander, Kara Poe (2019). Undergraduate Research in Writing Studies: Using the DALN to Stimulate Inquiry and Teach Research Methods. Computers and Composition Digital Press/Utah State University Press. ISBN 978-1-60732-924-4.
  10. ^ Comer, Kathryn; Harker, Michael; McCorkle, Ben (2019). The Archive as Classroom. Computers and Composition Digital Press/Utah State University Press. ISBN 978-1-60732-924-4.
  11. ^ a b c Reid, Lynn; Hancock, Nicole (2019). Teaching Basic Writing in the 21st Century: A Multiliteracies Approach. Computers and Composition Digital Press/Utah State University Press. ISBN 978-1-60732-924-4.
  12. ^ a b c d e O'Connor, Mary Helen (2019). Teaching Refugee Students with the DALN. Computers and Composition Digital Press/Utah State University Press. ISBN 978-1-60732-924-4.
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