From generation to generation : family stories, computers and genealogy

Abstract

Telling stories about a family's common past solidifies its sense of community, and enriches member's sense of identity and belonging. In preindustrial times this information flowed orally thanks to continuous and prolonged cohabitation, but the dispersion of kinship in modern society has severed the ties between the generations. On-line communities can help restore these links by providing virtual spaces whose design specifically encourages storytelling. In order to arrive at this design, this thesis (1) surveys the importance and characteristics of family storytelling, (2) discusses the procedures used by oral historians and folklorists for story elicitation, and (3) analyzes a number of existing systems in terms of the above theoretical background. This thesis concludes with a series of guidelines for the design and implementation of communities for family storytelling. Different ways of indexing and accessing stories are discussed, and appropriate representations and interfaces that facilitate the storytelling process are presented.