Computers and Composition Digital Press2011TextStories that Speak to Us: Exhibits from the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives

Abstract | This exhibit offers teachers of composition one way to respond productively to the narratives in the DALN. Readers are asked to watch/listen to three different literacy narratives from the DALN that provide a small subset of materials that women students have contributed to the collection. The exhibit examines these first-hand accounts within the context of the archive 2.0 movement (cf., Huvila, 2008; Skinnell, 2010; Schwartz & Cook 2002). Readers are asked to consider how thinking about the DALN as an example of the archive 2.0 movement could help composition teachers shape the ways they read and think about students’ literacy narratives and how they might respond in terms of professional practices. For this last goal, the exhibit builds on the work of Goffman (2003), Workman (2008), and Ratcliffe (1999).

About the Curator | Since 2007, members of the DALN Consortium—which consists of community members, students, teachers, literacy workers—have been working to conceptualize, build, grow, sustain, and use the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives (the DALN). At this time, the archive contains more than 3600 first-hand accounts of how individuals remember learning to read and write; the conditions under which they continue reading and composing; and the influences, people, and values that shape their literate practices.

Part research archive, part community literacy project, part teaching aid, the DALN has become, as far as we know, the largest publically-available, online archive of literacy narratives in the world. Communities (composition students, politicians, tattoo artists, librarians, autistic social activists, athletes, Black women university faculty, GED graduates, transexual and queer activists, among many, many others) are using the DALN to record their literacy histories and describe their literacy identities in the words of their members rather than the words of scholars. A variety of researchers are now using the collection for exploring patterns of global and local literacies, as well as learning more about different kinds of literacy sponsorships, practices, and values (see the chapters in this collection).

The DALN Consortium is comprised of individuals who have contributed their time and effort to making the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives thrive as a public repository. Among these colleagues, we count many friends, all of them generous in their participation: Megan Adams, Kara Poe Alexander, Cheryl Ball, Patrick Berry, Lorelei Blackburn, Kristine Blair, David Bloome, Derek Boczkowski, Chase Bollig, Jamie Bono, Timothy Briggs, Brenda Brueggemann, Krista Bryson, Amber Buck, Allison Carr, Daniel Carter, Adam Cirpili, Allen Coleman, Lauren M. Connolly, Jennifer Clifton, Genevieve Critel, Kathryn Comer, Angela Crow, Sally Crisp, Huey Crisp, Susan Delagrange, Katherine DeLuca, Christine Denneker, Scott DeWitt, David Fisher, Alanna Frost, Bre Garrett, Greg Graham, Michael Harker, Kyle Hayth, Gail Hawisher, Jennifer Herman, Timothy Jensen, Valerie Kinloch, Kamila Kinyon, Will Kurlinkus, Deborah Kuzawa, Isaac Levine, Christina Lavecchia, Tim Lockridge, Eleanor Long, Ben McCorkle, Heidi McKee, Suzanne Blum Malley, Laura Micchiche, Beverly Moss, Jennifer Michaels, Ryan Omizo, Adrienne Owens, Jason Palmeri, James Phelan, Amy Pinnegar, Jim Porter, Penelope Quade, Lynn Reid, Elaine Richardson, David Riche, Duane Roen, Hannah Rule, John Scenters-Zapico, Dickie Selfe, Rachael Shapiro, Ghanashyam Sharma, Mary Sheridan, Erika Stranjord, Cate St. Pierre, Katie Taylor, Ryan Trauman, Christine Tulley, Sara Twitty, H. Lewis Ulman, Mile Oldenburg, Allison Wynhoff Olsen, Julia Voss, Janice Walker, Chad Weiss, Carla Wilks, Bronwyn Williams, Joseph Williams, Melanie Yergeau, and the students and staff of Transcribe Ohio.

Technical Requirements | This exhibit has been tested with Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer 6+.

The CCDP is committed to working toward the goal of making projects as accessible as possible for all readers. Readers who cannot access this project in any of the above formats can request an alternative format by contacting Cynthia L. Selfe (selfe.2@osu.edu).

Cite this Exhibit

MLA: Selfe, Cynthia L., and the DALN Consortium. “Rhetorical Responsiveness: Responding to Literacy Narratives as Teachers of Composition.” Stories That Speak to Us: Exhibits from the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives. Ed. H. Lewis Ulman, Scott Lloyd DeWitt, & Cynthia L. Selfe. Logan, UT: Computers and Composition Digital Press, 2013. Web.

APA: Selfe, Cynthia L., and the the DALN Consortium. (2013a). Rhetorical Responsiveness: Responding to Literacy Narratives as Teachers of Composition. In H. L. Ulman, S. L. DeWitt, & C. L. Selfe (Eds.), Stories that Speak to Us: Exhibits from the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives. Logan, UT: Computers and Composition Digital Press.