about the
directory

contact administrator

create/edit
entries

browse:

works
by category

works
alphabetically

authors

publishers

• Introduction
• How to Use the Directory
• Editorial Policy and Procedures
• Maintaining Your Own Entries
• Directory Staff

Introduction

The Electronic Literature Directory is a unique and valuable resource for readers and writers of digital texts. It provides an extensive database of listings for electronic works, their authors, and their publishers. The descriptive entries cover poetry, fiction, drama, and nonfiction that makes significant use of electronic techniques or enhancements.

The Directory provides easy access to one of the most exciting and fastest-growing bodies of cutting-edge literature. Among the new forms of writing represented here are hypertexts and other interactive pieces, kinetic or animated poems, multimedia works, generated texts, and works that allow reader collaboration. Directory users can also enjoy the enhancements that the new technology brings to traditional literature, such as streaming audio readings of poetry by masters ranging from e.e. cummings and Dylan Thomas to contemporary Pulitzer Prize winners.

Authors and publishers listed in the Directory are encouraged to edit their own listings to ensure accuracy and completeness (see details below).

The Directory is currently in a publicly accessible beta form. Some bugs are still present, some key features have not yet been implemented, and not all data has been checked for accuracy. The great potential utility of the database compels us to make it accessible to the public despite these drawbacks.

For more details about the genesis and goals of the Directory, see Stalking the Wild Hypertext: The Electronic Literature Directory.

How to Use the Directory

Use the search box on the main Directory page to find individual authors or specific works by title. You can also search for words or phrases within author bios or the descriptions of works.

Click on the category links to browse entries in a particular category. The first column of choices (Genre/Length) lets you view all the entries in a single genre or only entries of a specified length within the genre, such as Long Fiction or Short Poetry. The second column (Technique/Genre) lets you view all works that make use of a specific electronic technique or element. Or you can select only specific genres that make use of a technique, such as Hypertext Fiction. Here is an explanation of what you will find under each category of electronic technique:

• Hypertext/Other Interaction:
  Hypertexts and pieces that exploit other forms of interactivity.
   
• Recorded Reading/Performance:
  Digitized audio or video of a text being read or performed.
   
• Animated Text:
  Kinetic or animated texts (usually poems) in which words move or morph onscreen.
   
• Other Multimedia:
  Work using audio, video, or animation in ways not covered by one of the categories above.
   
• Extensive Graphics:
  Work in which graphics and visual elements play a significant role.
   
• Generated Text:
  Texts created in real time by rules and random processes for combining words. Each reading generates a different text.
   
• Reader Collaboration:
  Work that allows readers to add their own writing to the text.

Individual works may be included in more than one category. For example, if a poem uses both hypertext and animated text, it will be displayed when you select either Hypertext/Other Interaction or Animated Text.

Whenever the Directory displays a list of entries, you can click on the icon within any individual entry to see additional details about the work.

This detail view will also provide a biography of the author and listings of other works by that author.

To view a list of all authors or all publishers contained in the directory, click on the links that appear in the gray bar below the two columns of category links on the main Directory page. You can also select the works link here to browse all works regardless of category. On other pages these options are available from the links on the left side of the screen. To browse the lists of authors, publishers, and works, click on the letters of the alphabetical index at the top of each screen. Clicking on the name of an author or publisher in these lists will display the works they have written or published.

More-sophisticated search and selection capabilities will be added to the Directory in the future, letting users find works by specifying virtually any attribute, from the language of the text to the distribution medium (Web, disk, etc.). Recommendations and capsule reviews will supplement the content at a later date.

Editorial Policy and Procedures

The initial content of the Directory came from Word Circuits and was then greatly expanded upon by the ELO staff. We scoured the Web for material and listed everything we found that was appropriate for inclusion. In order to fill in gaps and eliminate inaccuracies, we have created user accounts that allow all authors and publishers in the Directory to edit their existing listings and add new ones for themselves, subject to staff monitoring. If your work isn't in the Directory but should be, please request a Directory account that will let you add your own entries. The collaboration of authors, publishers, and ELO staff in maintaining content will ensure that the Directory is always comprehensive, accurate, and up to date.

All work listed in the Directory must meet our inclusion criteria. We will review all additions made to the Directory and remove any that are inappropriate. We may also edit entries for accuracy or typographical errors.

Maintaining Your Own Entries

If you are an author listed in the Directory, contact us for the username and password that will allow you to create and edit listings of your works. If you are a listed publisher, we will allow you to edit and create listings of the work you publish. If you aren't listed in the directory but should be, please request a Directory account.

Our staff does all it can to keep the Directory up to date, complete, and accurate, but there is some information that can be provided only by authors or publishers. Maintaining your biographical information and work listings in the Directory will ensure that you and your work are presented in the best possible light.

Maintaining your entries will also increase your readership and visibility. The Directory is unequalled as a reference source for electronic literature and has become a significant portal for readers. It serves as a valuable tool for event organizers looking for readers and lecturers. It helps teachers find works to assign for class study and aids scholars and journalists who write about the field.

During a future stage of the Directory's development, reviews and recommendations will be attached to listings. Your listed work will then become eligible for reviews by eminent critics as well as reader recommendations by Directory users. Other features will be added in the future to increase the Directory's utility: Automatic URL verification will periodically check for broken links and notify you when these occur. You will be able to link directly from your home page or publishing site to a page in the Directory that lists all your electronic work and lets readers sort the listings by genre, publication date, or other characteristics. The directory will thus make it easier for you to maintain a complete and up-to-date catalog of your own work that is accessible from your own site.

Directory Staff

Robert Kendall,
Database Director

Nick Traenkner,
Directory Programmer

Peter Leslie
Editorial Assistant

Updated: August 2002