Researching Readers Online: understanding the impact of digital transformations on the reading process

Now so many readers are consuming and commenting on literature digitally, we must explore the impact of digitisation on reading practices and on the opportunities and methods available to researchers. Changes like digitisation are shaping our whole cultural heritage so we need to understand their impact. Digital technologies have made it much easier for readers to participate in a wide range of activities around their reading, including connecting with other readers and even writing stories themselves. Online communities and fan forums present researchers with a wealth of data not only on what readers are reading, but how they are reading and engaging with texts. This data is potentially invaluable, especially in a context where reading is supposedly in decline, and where new devices such as ereaders are threatening to supplant the printed book. This project will investigate the implications of these changes, and how they may potentially benefit a wide range of stakeholders, including those working in education and in the creative industries, as well as academics interested in readers and audiences.

The PI and Co-I will use our unique position as literary experts teaching in our University's Media School to:
- Analyse reader responses to literary texts in online spaces (blogs, reviews, fanfiction)
- Monitor the ways in which our students use digital and electronic devices for reading
- Use online questionnaires and focus groups to seek out the views and opinions of readers about the effects of digitisation on their reading habits and practices.

The research will also use data from workshops and interviews designed to collaborate with multidisciplinary researchers working on studies of readers to:
- Develop new approaches and insights into the practices of readers in both literary theory and pedagogy
- Reflect on the ethical responsibilities that come with this type of research
- Build on existing scholarship to critically assess appropriate methodologies for future research.

Benefits and outputs include:
- New information on reading practices that benefit industry and academia
- Contribution to existing knowledge through evolving theory
- Enhancing the teaching of literature in a digital age
- Providing a roadmap for future teaching and research in these areas to benefit UK educational and research institutions.

These will be disseminated through our network of academics and practitioners working in these areas; through workshops and publications; and to a wider audience (e.g. reading groups) via the creation of a dedicated website.

Impact Summary

We will produce new information on reading practices in a digital age that will benefit both industry and academia. Our analytical expertise and familiarity with cross-disciplinary approaches to reading will bring about new concepts and theories, contributing to knowledge in this area. The collaborations we propose will form our dissemination network within academia. This research will specifically benefit the teaching of literature in a digital age, and in modern environments such as Media Schools. Both the primary materials and analysis to be disseminated will provide a roadmap for future teaching and research in this area which will be of substantial benefit to UK educational and research institutions.

The research is likely to be of interest to a number of stakeholders engaged in trying to connect with and understand the activities of readers and audiences in a new media environment. One of the main aims of the research is to demonstrate that digital technologies present us with a rich source of data on readers and their activities, data that can be utilised in a number of ways, for commercial ends, but also by public bodies such as libraries and educational establishments.

Research on readers of literary texts will be of particular interest to publishers and to teachers. Our research will provide invaluable insights into the various processes and activities that surround reading, with the potential to help shape the design and promotion of texts in the publishing industry, and in education, the design and teaching of texts in and out of the classroom.