About the Project
Folk Mic is a publicly-accessible online repository for recordings of folktales and original stories. The project creates a framework for any storyteller, amateur to professional, to add their folktales and original stories. Furthermore, users are able to search for the stories using newly developed metadata and to develop more sophisticated metadata as the project grows in size. Folk Mic promotes the value of hearing and seeing a storyteller weave a tale rather than simply reading it. Now, future generations will have an online database where they can watch, hear, and record more storytellers.
The idea for Folk Mic came about in the spring of 2015 when project members Martha and Brian took an iSchool class from Dr. Goldsmith. In the class, Dr. Goldsmith pointed out that there was a dearth of online resources for the telling, collection, and distribution of folktales. Folk Mic was born to fill that gap in the world of folktales. Martha, Brian, and Kian created the site as their University of Washington iSchool Capstone project.
About the Team
Kian Flynn (left), [email protected]
Kian is a graduate of the University of Washington's iSchool and is now the Geography & Global Studies Librarian at the UW Libraries in Seattle. Kian served as the primary website designer for the project.
Martha Karavitis (middle), [email protected]
Martha is a storyteller and story-listener. She also works as an elementary school librarian. She wouldn't mind if Folk Mic hijacked her career path and absorbed her days for years to come.
Brian Lindsey (right), [email protected]
Brian is currently a supervising Librarian for the Everett Public Library System in Everett, WA. His storytelling days are mostly behind him, but once in a while he comes out of “retirement!” Brian is also working on a computer science degree at Oregon State University.
Kian is a graduate of the University of Washington's iSchool and is now the Geography & Global Studies Librarian at the UW Libraries in Seattle. Kian served as the primary website designer for the project.
Martha Karavitis (middle), [email protected]
Martha is a storyteller and story-listener. She also works as an elementary school librarian. She wouldn't mind if Folk Mic hijacked her career path and absorbed her days for years to come.
Brian Lindsey (right), [email protected]
Brian is currently a supervising Librarian for the Everett Public Library System in Everett, WA. His storytelling days are mostly behind him, but once in a while he comes out of “retirement!” Brian is also working on a computer science degree at Oregon State University.
About the Sponsor
Dr. Annette Y. Goldsmith, [email protected]
Dr. Goldsmith is trained as a traditional library storyteller and has taught many courses on storytelling in a variety of contexts. She is actively involved in the community of storytellers. Dr. Goldsmith’s research has primarily focused on international youth literature. She also teaches online graduate courses on children's literature and librarianship for the University of Washington and Kent State iSchools and works as a Judaica librarian. She lives in Los Angeles.