Humanities Librarians and Virtual Verse: Changing Collections and User Services for Online Literature

Electronic literature and digital literary publishing have grown rapidly in scope and volume in the past decade, and humanities librarians face the formidable challenge of capturing the full output of works of literature for current and future users, and determining how best to provide access to those works. This paper details the findings of the Virtual Verse in the Library project, which sought to investigate the impact of digital publishing on the access, reception, discovery, and preservation of poetry. The paper focuses on the results of the study's survey and interviews with academic librarians, and explores how library services, collections, and outreach can address the needs of students and faculty involved with digital literary publishing.