Digital Publishing and The Reader
Lead Research Organisation:
Bath Spa University
Department Name: School of Humanities
Abstract
The purpose of this collaborative research project is to investigate the changing nature of publishing in digital environments, with particular emphasis on examples which encourage interaction between readers, texts and authors.
The research focus of the project is located in library and information science and publishing. Through focused case studies, it will provide policy-relevant research for the British Library on issues related to collection-building and representation of cultural activity in Britain.
This project fits within the AHRC 'Digital Transformations' research theme, in particular examining emerging media and 'communication and creativity in a digital age'. Its focus is on examining the interaction between readers and authors, and the role of new technologies in shaping these interactions. The changing nature of UK publishing is central to this research, and it fits firmly within the RCUK's 'Digital Economy' theme, including topics such as: the reproduction and dissemination of knowledge; new forms of expression; changes in publishing; and notions of authorship.
The project would address three specific questions:
1. Technology change in digital publishing, including new technologies and reuse of existing technologies to support interaction between readers, texts and authors;
2. The impact of technology change on behaviours of readers and authors and their interaction with texts; and
3. The significance of these changes for memory institutions, in particular questions on collection building and other activities to represent these changes in reading and authorship behaviours and technologies.
Digital technologies are transforming reading, writing and publishing, creating multiple opportunities for writers and readers interested in experimentation and innovation. Within a few years, all emerging writers will be expected to be engaged with new forms and/or platforms as well as new ways of connecting with readers. As interaction between readers, writers, and texts becomes more fluid and pervasive across multiple platforms and modes, how will the life of a text be captured and represented by memory institutions like the British Library? Currently, reader-writer interaction is seldom archived alongside the text, though engagement with writers and their texts online is a hugely popular activity with large and vibrant communities and networks already existing. Any research project that addresses questions around technological change in reading and publishing must also address the impact of these changes on authors and texts.
A doctoral research collaboration between Bath Spa University and the British Library will produce a series of ground-breaking case studies where the parameters of what the British Library collects in relation to texts and games could be augmented and expanded, addressing the research question of how publishing and related reader/player/writer interaction should be represented and collected by memory institutions.
Within the time period of the doctorate the student will be able to run in-depth on-going case studies looking at the writing process, pre-publication, publication, and post-publication reader engagement of books by award-winning literary writers like Prof Tessa Hadley, Prof Philip Hensher, Prof David Almond, Prof Maggie Gee, and Prof Fay Weldon. Case studies could examine the role that technology plays in all these key stages, from writing to reader engagement across book festivals, social media, social reading and the whole ecosphere of publishing currently. As well as literary texts, case studies could be built around the work that Prof Kate Pullinger and Prof Naomi Alderman do in the field of digital fiction, games, participatory writing projects, and collaborative texts; Bath Spa's creative writing department is unusual in that its staff includes two of the most prominent and internationally-renowned innovators in this emerging field.
The research focus of the project is located in library and information science and publishing. Through focused case studies, it will provide policy-relevant research for the British Library on issues related to collection-building and representation of cultural activity in Britain.
This project fits within the AHRC 'Digital Transformations' research theme, in particular examining emerging media and 'communication and creativity in a digital age'. Its focus is on examining the interaction between readers and authors, and the role of new technologies in shaping these interactions. The changing nature of UK publishing is central to this research, and it fits firmly within the RCUK's 'Digital Economy' theme, including topics such as: the reproduction and dissemination of knowledge; new forms of expression; changes in publishing; and notions of authorship.
The project would address three specific questions:
1. Technology change in digital publishing, including new technologies and reuse of existing technologies to support interaction between readers, texts and authors;
2. The impact of technology change on behaviours of readers and authors and their interaction with texts; and
3. The significance of these changes for memory institutions, in particular questions on collection building and other activities to represent these changes in reading and authorship behaviours and technologies.
Digital technologies are transforming reading, writing and publishing, creating multiple opportunities for writers and readers interested in experimentation and innovation. Within a few years, all emerging writers will be expected to be engaged with new forms and/or platforms as well as new ways of connecting with readers. As interaction between readers, writers, and texts becomes more fluid and pervasive across multiple platforms and modes, how will the life of a text be captured and represented by memory institutions like the British Library? Currently, reader-writer interaction is seldom archived alongside the text, though engagement with writers and their texts online is a hugely popular activity with large and vibrant communities and networks already existing. Any research project that addresses questions around technological change in reading and publishing must also address the impact of these changes on authors and texts.
A doctoral research collaboration between Bath Spa University and the British Library will produce a series of ground-breaking case studies where the parameters of what the British Library collects in relation to texts and games could be augmented and expanded, addressing the research question of how publishing and related reader/player/writer interaction should be represented and collected by memory institutions.
Within the time period of the doctorate the student will be able to run in-depth on-going case studies looking at the writing process, pre-publication, publication, and post-publication reader engagement of books by award-winning literary writers like Prof Tessa Hadley, Prof Philip Hensher, Prof David Almond, Prof Maggie Gee, and Prof Fay Weldon. Case studies could examine the role that technology plays in all these key stages, from writing to reader engagement across book festivals, social media, social reading and the whole ecosphere of publishing currently. As well as literary texts, case studies could be built around the work that Prof Kate Pullinger and Prof Naomi Alderman do in the field of digital fiction, games, participatory writing projects, and collaborative texts; Bath Spa's creative writing department is unusual in that its staff includes two of the most prominent and internationally-renowned innovators in this emerging field.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Kate Pullinger (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Alastair Horne (Student) |