Publish and Die. The preservation of digital literature within the UK
Date
2010
Authors
Biggs, S.
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Journal article
Citation
Spiel, 2010; 29(1-2):343-354
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Abstract
This paper will describe an overview of the various activities in the UK that directly or indirectly
engage with the archiving, curation, exhibition and distribution of digital literature and poetry.
Whilst UK publishers are requested to lodge a copy of the books they publish with the British
Library there is no obligation upon any institution in the UK to collect, preserve or archive
electronic or digital publications, literary or otherwise. However, there are a number of initiatives
that, in various ways, address this, although none are committed to the specific area of digital
literature or poetry. Nonetheless, due to the overlapping interests of these various UK initiatives, a
reasonable proportion of work is, in principle, covered.
These initiatives operate in a number of different sectors, including the academic, public (e.g.:
museums and libraries) and private. As there is no obligation upon any of them there is nothing to
ensure a particular work is included in their operations other than by the efforts of the author and
publisher(s) or by the specific actions of the collecting agency. Due to this coverage is patchy and
incomplete.
Initiatives that will be discussed in this paper include those hosted by major institutions, such as
Tate Modern, the University of the Arts London (BFVA), the British Film Institute, the University
of Dundee (Rewind), De Montfort University (Transliteracies), Lancaster University (CaCHE) the
Arts and Humanities Digital Services, Intute and the UK National Archives as well as those
initiated by smaller bodies, such as Lux, Lo-Fi, Hyperliterature Exchange, Soundtoys and others.
How this situation impacts upon the UK creative practitioner working with digital media will be a
particular focus of the paper.
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Copyright 2010 Peter Lang AG International Academic Publishers