Rakontu is a free and open source web application that small groups of people can use together to share and work with stories. It's for people in neighborhoods, families, interest groups, support groups, work groups: any group of people with stories to share. Rakontu members build shared "story museums" that they can draw upon to achieve common goals.
Rakontu is about small groups sharing stories for a reason. Rakontus are invitation-only, private spaces where people share personal experiences about something they all care about, and in the process build something they can all use. Usually people who start a Rakontu will have something they want to do together, some common goal, and they will be interested in collecting and working with their stories as a means of getting there.
Take a look at the screencast tour, screenshots or features pages to find out more.
Rakontu is free and open source (GPL) software; anyone can use it. To start a new Rakontu, get a free Google App Engine account and install Rakontu on it.
As of mid 2010 Rakontu is no longer under active development. If you want to contribute to Rakontu, contact me at cfkurtz at cfkurtz dot com and let me know.
I'm Cynthia Kurtz, a researcher and consultant in the field of organizational and community narrative. I created Rakontu as part of my effort to bring the methods and ideas of the field to aid every small group with a goal. The other part of the effort is my free on-line book Working with Stories.
Check out the theory page for more information about Rakontu's origin, concepts, purpose, goals and vision. If you need even more information contact me at cfkurtz at cfkurtz.com.