This document summarizes a presentation on capturing and preserving online literature. It discusses how poetry publishing is increasingly moving online, with nearly 800 online-only venues now listed. Through surveys and interviews with writers, editors, and librarians, the presenters assessed needs and challenges around discovering, accessing, and curating online poetry. They found that while the internet expands exposure and community, concerns include ephemerality of online journals, lack of prestige for online publications, and difficulties preserving digital works. The presenters call for continued efforts to index, review, and archive online poetry to improve discovery and long-term access.

1. Capturing Virtual Verse:
A Needs Assessment on Access and
Preservation of Online-Only
Literature
Rachel A. Fleming-May
University of Tennessee
@rachelf_m
Harriett E. Green
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
@greenharr
DH2015
University of Western Sydney, July 2, 2015

2. Whither Literary Culture?
@greenharr #dh2015

3. “As glossy magazines die by the dozen and blogs
become increasingly influential, we face the reality that
print venues…are rapidly ceding ground to Web-based
publishing.”
—Sandra Beasley, Poets & Writers (2009)
@greenharr #dh2015

4. Changing Landscape
The Poets & Writers and
Council of Literary Magazines and Presses databases
of literary publishers and journals currently feature
nearly 800 venues that publish online-only poetry,
even if the title has a print counterpart.
@greenharr #dh2015

5. E-Literature and the Role of
Libraries?
“Though it would be impossible for even a large staff
of librarians to track and document everything available
electronically, some effort needs to be made. . . . The
current challenge seems to be to expand the library’s
responsibility beyond information of the past to
include information that is being generated in the
moment.”
—Jake Berry, interview in The Serials Librarian
@greenharr #dh2015

6. While individual
poems and short
stories published in
many print titles are
indexed…
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7. Very few poems that appear on the
web only are indexed in standard
sources…
Even if they are published on the
web pages of print publications.
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8. The Result?
Poems published in
web-only publications
are discoverable only
by “known-item”
searching: by title
and/or author.
@greenharr #dh2015

9. Existing Indexes and Archives
• Electronic Literature Organization (ELO): ELO Directory, Electronic
Literature Collection vols. 1-2
• ELMCIP Knowledge Base
• PennSound
• Univ. of Buffalo Electronic Poetry Center
• UbuWeb
• From the Fishouse
• New Pages
• Organizations: Poetry Foundation, American Academy of Poets, Woodberry
Poetry Room
• CELL Project: ADELTA, electronic book review, NT2 Canada, ADEL,
PO.EX, Hermeneia, Digital Language Arts Collection, ELO, ELMCIP
@greenharr #dh2015

10. Virtual Verse in the Library
• Funded by 2012-2013 Institute of Museum and Library
Services (IMLS) National Leadership Planning Grant
• Investigate viability of creating an index of online-only poetry
• Identify stakeholders and users
• Assess their needs in regards to online poetry
• Define inclusion/exclusion criteria for the index
• Determine features and functionalities that would be needed
http://virtualverse.weebly.com/
@greenharr #dh2015

11. Research Design:
Environmental Scan
• Examine current efforts and potential models: ELO
Directory, ELMCIP, etc.
• Built index of over 900 publishing outlets
• Sample analysis of publishing frequency and scope:
• Number of issues
• Poems per issue.
@greenharr #dh2015

12. Research Design: Stakeholder
Consultations
• Gathered from Poets & Writers magazine database,
CLMP online directory, universities’ directories
• Surveys:
• 960 Creative Writing Faculty, 12.5% response
• 152 Humanities Librarians, 58% response
• 945 Literary Editors/Publishers, 13.4% response
• Interviews: 7 creative writing faculty, 7 librarians, 5
editors
@greenharr #dh2015

13. Key Findings
• PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE: The role of online
poetry in professional writing and teaching
practices
• DISCOVERY AND USABILITY:
• How would they use an index?
• Preferred functionalities that the respondents desire
in an index/archive of e-poetry
• DIGITAL CURATION: Preservation and curation
strategies for online-only works
@greenharr #dh2015

14. What
Did
They
Say?

15. Professional Practice: Finding Works
“Usually I search for a poem or poet, either for teaching purposes
(poetry from tradition, generally), or to get a brief look at the work of a
poet with whom I'm unfamiliar. Very occasionally I look at something
like Poetry magazine online. Sometimes I will follow links to work that
I'm notified of by e-mail.” (Faculty)
“Personal website or just works published online - another bonus of
online publication [is] instant gratification for a reader interested in
someone's work.” (Publisher)
“I tend to peruse the online version of print journals mostly. I do also
use search engines. Rarely do I go directly to an author site or some
other non-juried (or minimally juried) source.” (Publisher)

16. Professional Practice: Publishing
Online vs. Print
“It's not an either/or issue. I submit to quality online
journals and to quality print journals.” (Faculty)
“I prefer print publications, but with the current
massive presence of poetry online, one wants to have a
few available there for people who search for my name
specifically.” (Faculty)
@greenharr #dh2015

17. Professional Practice: Prestige and
Tenure
“As an assistant professor, it was made clear to me that
on-line publications would not rate in tenure
deliberations.” (Faculty)
“It’s like the hard-copy book gives you the prestige to
ask for the connection with the world that you get by
interacting with readers, either in public events or
readings, or online.” (Faculty)
@greenharr #dh2015

18. Professional Practice: Exposure of
Their Work
“I want my name to be online and searchable. Most print
journals release 500 or fewer issues. That’s ‘most’ of them. I
am aware of the bigger journals that release thousands as
well. Still, print is not archivable. If my work is online, it
stays there until the journals website possible [sic] goes
under.” (Publisher/poet)
“Online poems reach more readers. It’s that simple. I also
think they can go viral in useful ways.” (Faculty)
“More and more, if a poem is not online it does not
exist.” (Faculty)
@greenharr #dh2015

19. Challenges of Online Publishing
“I think one of the obstacles for poets, who can be nervous about
on-line publication, is their perception that they can easily lose
‘control’ of the poem—that others can not only easily distribute,
but also easily change, manipulate, or remix the poem.” (Faculty)
“[Online publishing] leads to plagiarism. People have taken my
poetry and reproduced it incorrectly, destroying line breaks etc.
Pieces of my poems have been taken and used for all sorts of
nonsense like advertisements.” (Faculty)
“There is also a loss of tactile sensation from book to screen that
is changing what well designed typography means.” (Publisher)

20. Tools for Reading and Access
• “Some sort of 'poetry reading' situations, wherein audio is
combined with the written word. A conference of sorts
wherein poets could queue up and read their pieces, receive
feedback, etc.” (Publisher)
• Social media tools. I think that if you can convince a lot of
online journals to work with you, you might be able to
develop a badge/button that a reader could click to ‘Add to’
a personalized version of your online archive.” (Publisher)

21. Discovery and Access: Selectivity
“This would be harder to do, but I'd like a curated list of which on-line
only journals are most respected. For example, which online journals have
been awarded Pushcart Prizes; which online journals have been
acknowledged in Best American Poetry series. This kind of selected info
would make it far more enjoyable and practical to access poetry on the
Web.” (Faculty)
“A place for reviews and evaluations of these sources. A way to maybe
preserve some of these publications when they go under. I know I have
provided links to e-zines only to find out that they closed up shop and
there's no access to what was there before.” (Librarian)

22. Discovery and Access: Challenges
“younger students who only read poems online don’t read
with the same intensified attention span; the slow, deep
attention span you need for a poem.” (Faculty)
“Reliable websites. Nothing else, as reputable roadmap is still
in print not web - web is even at best (as archive) secondary/
parasitic on publications in the real world, with real editors
and publishers. The web, like the real world, is crammed
with wannabe rubbish.” (Faculty)

23. Digital Curation and Preservation
“E-Journals are ephemeral and often disappear quickly. I've never
had it happen to me, but I know that sometimes, one can publish in
an online journal and that online journal will suddenly disappear.
Another challenge: among the more powerful literati, there's still a
strong prejudice against publishing online.” (Publisher)
“There’s a lot of publications online that are like mayflies: they occur
for maybe a few issues, and then they go dark. Sometimes it can be
really tragic.” (Poet/Faculty)

24. What Can be Done ?
• Preserving websites of online-only literary journals that fold;
• Preserving individual works in archives and repositories;
• Maintaining the technological infrastructure of long-standing websites—
e.g., fixing broken links, maintaining formats;
• Adding records for the journals to library catalogs and electronic
resource indexes;
• Authenticating copyright of works by preserving authors’ original works
in their online formats.

25. Analysis

26. Diffusion of Innovation
“For me it is about an expanded set of artistic tools,
presences, venues: diversity and range. It is not about
*reducing* the range of these experiences to a digital
experience.” (Faculty/Poet)
“Both print and digital are important for the future of
poetry. Poetry in print is a wonderful cultural artifact, and the
materiality introduces physical possibilities and constraints
that are different from those in digital form. The two media
complementing each other, and each doing what it can do,
could be great for poetry.” (Publisher)

27. Diffusion of Innovation In Online Poetry…
Relative Advantage
the extent to which an innovation
improves upon the previous
approach.
Ease of discovery, access;
incorporation of multi-media; More
difficult to identify quality works
online due to excess of content
Compatibility
the extent to which an innovation
matches the needs and experiences
of the adopter group
Sharing and promoting publications
easier and more immediate;
Disconnect of “One poem-one-
author”
Complexity
an innovation’s perceived difficulty
Creating web-based publications
can be time-consuming;
Trialability
Ability to do experimentation or
“sampling” with innovation
Easier submission process for
works online
Observability
the visibility of changes wrought by
an innovation
Discovering and accessing specific
works easier than in print

28. Community of Practice
“Readership is open to everyone and grows quickly. We
have readers and submitters from all over the world. It
really is a global community.” (Faculty/Poet)
“Publishing online permits greater access to, and for, a
reading and writing audience. Not only due to the
immediacy of publication release, but to the global
nature of the Internet itself.” (Publisher)

29. Looking
Ahead

30. What’s Next?
• Forthcoming articles in JASIST and Journal of Academic
Librarianship with in-depth analyses of findings
• How do we build an index of digital literature that
integrates into the practices of of creative writing faculty,
literary publishers, and information professionals today?
“Recognition that the future is now, and it is online -
whether to be browsed, downloaded, or archived.
Faculty Respondent
@greenharr #dh2015

31. References
Beasley, Sandra. “From Page to Pixels: The Evolution of Online Journals.” Poets
& Writers 37, no 3 (2009).
http://www.pw.org/content/page_pixels_evolution_online_journals.
May, Alan. “Interview with Jake Berry, Editor of Outré, Artifact Collective Texts,
Anomaly, The Experioddicist, and Currently 9th St. Laboratories.” Serials
Librarian 55, no. 1/2 (2008): 296- 303.
Paling, Stephen and Michael Nilan. “Technology, Genres, and Value Change: The
Case of Little Magazines.” Journal of the American Society for Information Science and
Technology 57, no. 7 (2006): 862-872.
Rogers, E.M. (2010). Diffusion of innovations. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Wenger, E. (2005). Communities of practice: A brief introduction. Retrieved from
http://www.ewenger.com/theory

32. Picture Credits
• "the written word,” by palo, on Flickr,
https://www.flickr.com/photos/paloetic/6381538651
• "Magnifying Glass,” by Auntie P, on Flickr,
https://www.flickr.com/photos/auntiep/17135231
• “Poyke,” Noa Cafri, on Wikimedia,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Poyke.JPG
• "Paris: telescope on Eiffel Tower // Teleskop auf dem
Eiffelturm” by brongaeh, on Flickr,
https://www.flickr.com/photos/brongaeh/9933790456

33. THANK YOU!
Harriett Green
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
green19@illinois.edu
@greenharr
DOWNLOAD SLIDES AT:
http://virtualverse.weebly.com