The document discusses the challenges faced in preserving and publishing electronic literature due to changing computational environments and software obsolescence. It provides examples of works that became inaccessible over time and outlines digital preservation methods such as bit-by-bit preservation, emulation, and porting. The author suggests a new paradigm involving virtualization and cloud-based services to maintain access to these works while addressing the evolving nature of technology.

1. E-Publishing 2.0:
Re imagining the Publication and
Preservation of Electronic
Literature

2. The Situation
• Electronic literature
– “first generation electronic objects”
– “born-digital”
• Created in specific computational conditions.
– Hardware
– Platform
– Software
• Received in multiple computational
conditions.

3. The Problem
• Computational conditions are always
changing
• Backwards compatibility is maintained to
different levels
• Proprietary software is “closed” and restricts
tampering
• Companies and software come and go
• Even open source code changes and becomes
deprecated
• Backwards compatibility: 5-10 years

4. Example #1: Arteroids
• Created in
Macromedia
Director from
2000 to 2004.
• Published online
via embedded
Shockwave files.
• In 2004, Adobe buys Macromedia:
– Releases Director 11 in 2008, changing the audio engine and other
aspects of its code base.
– Importing old versions changes code, rendering it inoperable and
unreadable.
– Largely abandoned: minor updates in 2009 and 2010.

5. Example 2: Lexia to Perplexia
• Written in HTML,
DHTML, & JavaScript in
2000
• Runs in:
• Netscape Navigator 4
• Internet Explorer 4
• Incompatible with Firefox, Chrome, Safari, etc.
• Standards change for HTML, DHTML, JavaScript:
– Deprecated commands & code
– New browsers designed to read newer versions

6. Example 3: Works in Flash
• Flash became an industry & e-literature
standard in the past decade.
• Many works of e-literature are
developed with this authoring software.
• 2010: Steve Jobs decides not to allow Flash
in iOS devices.
• 2012: Adobe discontinues Flash for Android
tablets. Only developed for personal
computers.
• As tablets become ubiquitous, the audience
for e-lit in Flash will die out.

7. Digital Preservation Methods
for Electronic Literature
• Bit-by-bit preservation of source materials.
• Documentation – through image, audio, and
video capture of a performance of the work.
• Emulation – emulating the original
computational environment in another OS.
• Porting - translating software from one
programming language to another with the
goal of producing the same effect in different
hardware and software configurations.

8. Digital Publication Methods
for Electronic Literature
• Online publication.
• Bit-by-bit preservation: provide access to
faithful copy of the original. Reader may not
be able to use copy.
• Documentation – disables interface &
interactivity.
• Emulation – reader needs to install
emulators in their own computers to run
files.
• Porting – Produces new editions of the work.
Changes work in subtle ways.

9. Example 4: First Screening
• Created on an Apple IIe
between 1983-1984 in
Apple Basic.
• Underwhich edition
(1984): 100 copies
published in 5.25” floppy
disks.
• Apple II series
discontinued by 1993.

10. First Screening on Hypercard
• J. B. Hohm started
working on a Hypercard
version of First Screening
in 1992.
• It was published in 1993
by Red Deer College Press
in 3.5” disks.
• Hypercard was
discontinued in 2004.
• Classic Environment not
functional beyond Mac
OS 10.4 (Tiger), released
in 2005.

11. Digital Preservation of First
Screening
• 3-year preservation project (2004-2007) by Jim
Andrews, Lionel Kearns, Dan Waber, Geof
Huth, and Marko Niemi produced and published:
1. The original DSK file of the 1984 edition, which can be
opened with an Apple IIe emulator, along with the Apple
BASIC source code as a text file, and scanned images of
the original printed matter.
2. A video documenting the emulated version in Quicktime
format.
3. The 1993 HyperCard version, along with the printed
matter of that edition.
4. A JavaScript version that runs in browsers.

12. First Screening (video version)

13. Evaluating First Screening Digital
Preservation at Vispo.com:
Pros Cons
• Well documented • Different formats
• Offers work in multiple presented as (more or
formats less) equivalent
• Offers supplemental representations of work
materials • Porting focuses on
• Includes source code linguistic text and
animation
• Javascript port • Graphical text is
preserves: neglected
– Linguistic text
– Animation • Work is different in
each format.
• Lovingly executed

14. Screen Text vs Code
JavaScript Screen Text JavaScript Code

15. REMarks about Screen & Code
• Differences between code and screen are
significant in bpNichol’s work:
– Title “First Screening” evokes computer and
film
– Early (est?) kinetic digital poem
– “Offscreen Romance” plays off of onscreen
chemistry and off-screen romance between
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
– Code poem is not a kinetic text
– Code poem engages REM programming code

16. Problems with Current Electronic
Publication Paradigm
• Publish works in Web deliverable format
• Assumptions:
– The material can survive changes in
computational environment.
– Readers are willing to:
• Switch browsers or compare how they render
work.
• Install plugins
• Install emulators
• Watch documentation videos

17. New Paradigm
• Publish works inside of computational
environments customized to run work
optimally.
• Technologies:
– Emulation
– Virtualization
• Apache VCL
• VMware
• Gaikai & Onlive
– Cloud-based services

18. Virtualization
• Run operating systems inside of other OS.
• Publish access to online virtual machines.
• The reader only receives a “screen” into
other machine.
• Reader’s input is mapped onto virtual
environment’s input.
• Requires good bandwidth

19. VCL (Virtual Computer Lab)
• NC State University & Apache Software
Foundation are the leaders in VCL
development.
• Concept:
– Terminal 2.0
– Centralizes computational infrastructure
– Users can request a variety of OS & software
– Minimal requirements for readers’ machines.

20. How VCL Works

21. Onlive & Gaikai
• Designed to deliver computer games on
the Cloud.
• Minimizes system requirements for users.
• Deliverable on iPads, tablets, browsers.
• Successful?
– Gaikai was purchased by Sony
– Onlive went bankrupt

22. What’s next?
• Research and development of virtualization &
emulation.
• Identification and preparation of key
computational environments to be replicated.
• Develop input mapping on different devices.
• Explore legal issues with software licences.
• Curate environments and works so readers
can understand older computational
contexts.

23. Final Considerations
• Can be used to produce critical editions:
• Example: Arteroids
– Prepare virtual machine with old version of
Macromedia Director.
– Provide source files for scholars to perform
Critical Code readings and study code.
– Have multiple running versions in machine.
• Added value = monetizable publication.

24. Thank you!
Leonardo Flores, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of English
University of Puerto Rico: Mayagüez
Fulbright Scholar in Digital Culture
University of Bergen
Featured project: I ♥ E-Poetry
http://leonardoflores.net