Electronic Literature Lab
The Electronic Literature Lab, housed in Washington State University, Vancouver, maintains obsolete computers and hardware to preserve and present early electronic literature, video games, and internet works such as Instagram zines.[1]
Laboratory description
[edit]The Electronic Literature Lab holds the hardware and software that the NEXT Museum, Library, and Preservation Space depends on to show electronic literature works in their original environment.[2] The lab forms the center of archiving electronic literature for the Electronic Literature Organization.[3] Because electronic literature works were built on specific hardware, software, and platforms, these works are now largely inaccessible as hardware and software becomes obsolete.[4]
As Kristin Lillvis and Melinda White note, "the Electronic Literature Lab has preserved many of these works in the collection through restoration processes involving migration and emulation to make them once-again accessible."[5] The lab documents these archival processes in scholarly publications such as The Challenges of Born-Digital Fiction (2023)[6] and Traversals: The Use of Preservation for Early Electronic Writing (2018).[7] As Jan Beatens explained, Stuart Moulthrop and Dene Grigar explicate the challenges in this pioneering field of preserving electronic literature in the Electronic Literature Lab.[8]
History and operations
[edit]Dene Grigar founded and directs this lab.[9] She describes her theory of preservation for electronic items in her 2025 Ted Talk Making the Virtual Real and the Real Virtual[10]
The lab contains over 80 vintage computers from 1977 onwards.[11]
Awards and grants
[edit]The lab received an Open Scholarship Award from the Canadian Social Knowledge Institute in 2022.[12] Electronic literature critics, such as Astrid Ensslin and Mariusz Pisarski, have collaborated with WSUV students and professors to analyze and archive electronic literature works.[13]
References
[edit]- ^ "Still booting after all these years: The people stuck using ancient Windows computers". www.bbc.com. 2025-05-18. Retrieved 2025-05-25.
- ^ "Electronic Literature Lab (ELL) | ELMCIP". elmcip.net. Retrieved 2025-05-25.
- ^ Grigar, Dene (May 2019). "Archiving Electronic Literature: Selection Criteria, Methodology, and Challenges". Journal of Archival Organization. 15 (1–2): 20–33. doi:10.1080/15332748.2019.1609310.
- ^ culturalstudiesleuven (2018-07-02). "Traversals: The Use of Preservation for Early Electronic Writing". Cultural Studies Leuven. Retrieved 2025-05-25.
- ^ Lillvis, Kristen; White, Melinda (2023-08-28). "Review: Marjorie C. Luesebrink Collection at ELO's The NEXT". Reviews in Digital Humanities. IV (8). doi:10.21428/3e88f64f.fb0bd342. ISSN 2766-9297.
- ^ Grigar, Dene; Pisarski, Mariusz (February 2024). "The Challenges of Born-Digital Fiction: Editions, Translations, and Emulations". Elements in Digital Literary Studies. doi:10.1017/9781009181488. ISBN 978-1-009-18148-8.
- ^ Stuart, Moulthrop; Dene, Grigar; Joseph, Tabbi (2017-04-07). "Traversals: The Use of Preservation for Early Electronic Writing". OUP Academic. doi:10.7551/mitpre (inactive 27 May 2025).
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of May 2025 (link) - ^ "Review of Traversals: The Use of Preservation for Early Electronic Writing". Leonardo/ISASTwith Arizona State University. 2018-07-01. Retrieved 2025-05-25.
- ^ "Electronic Literature Lab | Washington State University". vancouver.labs.wsu.edu. Retrieved 2025-05-25.
- ^ TEDx Talks (2025-04-09). Making the Virtual Real and the Real Virtual | Dene Grigar | TEDxMarshallU. Retrieved 2025-05-26 – via YouTube.
- ^ "The Electronic Literature Lab". dtc-wsuv.org. Retrieved 2024-05-06.
- ^ "2022 Open Scholarship Awards | Electronic Textual Cultures Lab". etcl.uvic.ca. Retrieved 2025-05-25.
- ^ "International scholars join Electronic Literature Lab". College of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2025-05-25.