Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives

The Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives (DALN) is an online public archive of personal literacy narratives. The DALN collects narratives ranging in formats and composition styles to include traditional and unconventional self-exploratory mediums such as video essays, drawings and written narratives. In 2005, Cynthia Selfe, H. Lewis Ulman, and Scott DeWitt at Ohio State University began development of the DALN with the purpose of creating and preserving a diverse and accessible collection of personal narratives. While most visitors to the site are from the United States, the DALN has developed a worldwide audience, and, there were over 8,000 submissions from countries on six of seven continents.

Origin
The original purpose of DALN, as stated by its creators, was to create an accessible collection of literacy narratives for the purpose of literacy research. With origins in writing studies research, its creators sought to capture the development of narratives, to challenge notable definitions of literacy, and create a dynamic way for collaborators, readers and researchers to interact. In recent years DALN has been implemented in writing studies courses, with the intent of promoting literacy through personal inquiry.