National Storytelling Festival 2002

Reviewed By: Donna Tucker

This site was assembled by the International Storytelling Center, which is part of the Smithsonian and a partner with the Library of Congress. Being a partner and "subsidiary" of such renowned institutions gives this site the credibility it deserves. The main purpose of the site is to give information about the National Storytelling Festival held annually in Jonesborough, Tenn., and to draw visitors to the Festival. Pictures of guest storytellers and the types of stories they tell are provided. Dates, maps, accommodations, ticket prices, special events, food, and transportation information is all provided. A link to the the affiliate, International Storytelling Center, takes the web visitor to the site about the new storytelling center being built and the many programs to be provided there. There is no sign of update information on the storytelling festival site; however, since the festival advertised will be in Oct. 2002, hotel accommodation information reflects which hotels have vacancies, and which do not (there are currently none available in Jonesborough itself), and therefore the site is current. There is an address at which the Web author may be contacted as well as email links. With such a well known storytelling event such as this one, and with the affiliates mentioned, all information appears to be factual, and can be checked quickly within the storytelling community.

Reviewed By: Melissa Brewer.

The National Storytelling Festival website is produced by the International Storytelling Center and the National Storytelling Network. The bias is to promote this festival, but the aim of promoting storytelling is clear as well. The credentials seem to be good, because the Tennessee Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts endorse the National Storytelling Festival.

This site is timely because it has a copyright of 2002 and is promoting the festival for this year. There are links to reach the Tennessee Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the International Storytelling Center, as well as the web designers. There is also a "contact us" link for the National Storytelling Festival.

The site includes information about the National Storytelling Festival. Since the site is owned by the company who runs and promotes the festival, I didn't see any resources needing attribution elsewhere. I didn't notice any factual errors, but there was a spelling error, which seems to call into question how professional the people are who own and maintain the site. On the whole, however, the site seems to be informative.