Enhanced Curation and Ensuring a Post-Exhibition Legacy for the British Library’s Electronic Literature Collection
Submission Type
Paper
Start Date/Time (EDT)
19-7-2024 4:45 PM
End Date/Time (EDT)
19-7-2024 5:45 PM
Location
Hypertexts & Fictions
Abstract
This talk will explore curatorial reflections and visitor feedback from the British Library’s 2023 Digital Storytelling exhibition. Furthermore, it will discuss the Library’s ongoing plans for enhancing the research value of Emerging Formats, a collection of complex born-digital publications, through accompanying contextual material and documentation.
The British Library has been archiving examples of electronic literature in recent years as part of its Emerging Formats collecting activities under UK Non-Print Legal Deposit legislation. To raise the profile and public awareness of this collection, a selection of interactive works dating from 2010 were displayed in the Library’s 2023 Digital Storytelling exhibition. Eleven examples of electronic literature representing different genres and formats demonstrated the impact that technology has had on the way that writers write and readers read. This hands-on exhibition was the first of its kind at the Library, showcasing born-digital works that are responsive and interactive within the context of a physical gallery. Furthermore, to enrich the exhibition’s interpretation curators experimented with enhanced curation approaches, recording video interviews with several writers and commissioning playthrough footage of a selection of works. These recordings were displayed alongside related interactive stories in the exhibition, and they also have potential to become rich resources for future research.
Digital Storytelling provided a valuable opportunity to understand how different audiences interacted with these stories and to think about the use of these types of publications beyond the exhibition, as part of the Library’s growing Emerging Formats collection. However, many challenges persist and collecting institutions need to carefully consider how they can ensure successful sustainable preservation of electronic literature and complex born-digital publications, both for the present and the future.
Recommended Citation
Rossi, Giulia Carla and Wisdom, Stella, "Enhanced Curation and Ensuring a Post-Exhibition Legacy for the British Library’s Electronic Literature Collection" (2024). ELO (un)linked 2024. 13.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/elo2024/hypertextsandfictions/schedule/13
Enhanced Curation and Ensuring a Post-Exhibition Legacy for the British Library’s Electronic Literature Collection
Hypertexts & Fictions
This talk will explore curatorial reflections and visitor feedback from the British Library’s 2023 Digital Storytelling exhibition. Furthermore, it will discuss the Library’s ongoing plans for enhancing the research value of Emerging Formats, a collection of complex born-digital publications, through accompanying contextual material and documentation.
The British Library has been archiving examples of electronic literature in recent years as part of its Emerging Formats collecting activities under UK Non-Print Legal Deposit legislation. To raise the profile and public awareness of this collection, a selection of interactive works dating from 2010 were displayed in the Library’s 2023 Digital Storytelling exhibition. Eleven examples of electronic literature representing different genres and formats demonstrated the impact that technology has had on the way that writers write and readers read. This hands-on exhibition was the first of its kind at the Library, showcasing born-digital works that are responsive and interactive within the context of a physical gallery. Furthermore, to enrich the exhibition’s interpretation curators experimented with enhanced curation approaches, recording video interviews with several writers and commissioning playthrough footage of a selection of works. These recordings were displayed alongside related interactive stories in the exhibition, and they also have potential to become rich resources for future research.
Digital Storytelling provided a valuable opportunity to understand how different audiences interacted with these stories and to think about the use of these types of publications beyond the exhibition, as part of the Library’s growing Emerging Formats collection. However, many challenges persist and collecting institutions need to carefully consider how they can ensure successful sustainable preservation of electronic literature and complex born-digital publications, both for the present and the future.
Bio
Giulia Carla Rossi is Curator for Digital Publications at the British Library. Her work focuses on collecting and curating born-digital publications, including web-based interactive narratives and mobile apps. Her research interests include interactive storytelling, net art and creative coding. She was one of the curators of the British Library’s 2023 Digital Storytelling exhibition and contributed a chapter on interactive narratives as part of the history of the book form for The Book By Design (2023).
Stella Wisdom is Digital Curator for Contemporary British Collections at the British Library, their research interests explore innovative and creative re-use of digitised archives, and the curation of born digital collections including emerging formats. Stella co-curated the British Library’s 2023 Digital Storytelling exhibition, which showcased electronic literature and interactive narratives. Collaboration is at the heart of Stella’s work, in recent years they have partnered with Bath Spa University’s Centre for Cultural and Creative Industries, the New Media Writing Prize, University College London’s Institute of Education and Lancaster University’s Litcraft initiative, which builds immersive virtual literary environments in Minecraft.