Story Bank Maine (review)

As more oral history and folklore programs begin to publish productions of their content online in the form of podcasts, documentaries, and exhibitions, it is helpful to review current oral history–based online sites with a particular eye toward project accessibility, content cohesiveness, and website navigability. Therefore, this review focuses on the way that the content creators gather and deliver information, rather than on the content itself. Story Bank Maine (SBM) is a production of Cultural Resources, Inc., which states its function as “help[ing] communities and groups identify, celebrate, and preserve the cultural traditions that make them unique” (http://www.cultural-resources.org). The content creators are folklorist Kathleen Mundell and audio specialist Rob Rosenthal. The short description of the project on the SBM’s parent website, Cultural Resources, mentions that it is “inspired by StoryCorps,” a description that is reflected in the interview collection process. The content on the SBM project website, however, reflects a more in-depth interview format than the actual format used by StoryCorps. Those familiar with StoryCorps will know that a friend or loved one makes a reservation at a StoryCorps facility to record a forty-minute session of the exchange between the friend or loved one and the individual who extended the invitation. The goal of this process is to be democratic in the stories recorded and archived for future generations. Where the SBM project diverges from this model is in removing the forty-minute time constraint and utilizing trained interviewers. This important distinction allows the SBM to focus on more details in a more relaxed environment while professionals document the stories of Maine’s people.

While storybankmaine.org is clearly a website designed to highlight products from the overall SBM project, there is some confusion whether the SBM is primarily an oral history documentation project or a radio and podcast production. While the SBM website states that it is an “on-going radio program and podcast featuring stories about Maine people and their places,” it also discusses the process by which oral histories are captured and the original content professionally archived, a process that creates content for the radio program and podcast. In this sense, the SBM project is more complex than the homepage project description suggests. The layout of the SBM website, however, is very simple to navigate. There are three main pages of the website: “Home,” where the podcast descriptions, audio, and some images are accessible; “About,” which is a succinct description of the goals of the project, the key leaders in the project, and a general comment field; and “Photos,” which is where any images from or of the individual participants are located. Like many resources found online, content on this website is richer when seen within the context of the parent website, archival partner, and overall participants. In order to really get a sense of the SBM project scope and goals, beyond the final product of polished podcasts on the storybankmaine.org website, viewers have to be willing to veer off the page to the partner “Links” provided. While this might be seen as a weakness in the SBM project website, it is also something that web users have come to expect when engaging with online content.

On the SBM website, the summaries of each podcast are very clearly written with a citation for where each interview was recorded and with any partnership clearly defined. The nineteen published podcasts are well-produced radio pieces, created by Rob Rosenthal. The website mentions that the pieces are sometimes broadcast on public or community radio but does not indicate which pieces have been broadcast in this public format. It is obvious that the creators, whether conducting interviews or radio production, are professionals in this field; however, it would be beneficial to see sources of this professionalism cited, which would also help with marketing the SBM project.

What we learn about the SBM project from the storybankmaine.org website is that the interviews are conducted...