In addition to creating a record of how we have proceeded, many individuals and institutions provide access for those who wish to join in the exploration.  Critics such as Katherine Hayles [UCLA] are illuminating the nature of electronic literature.  Alan Liu, at the University of California at Santa Barbara has built a huge resource for literature with his Voice of the Shuttle.  Georgia Tech's Center for New Media Research and Education, led by Jay Bolter, is a leader in innovative projects in electronic literature and art; Robert Coover [Brown University] and Stuart Moulthrop {University of Baltimore] have gathered impressive groups and are doing fine work.  Many other universities and colleges have moved into e-lit and art, providing opportunities for students and community members to begin their own discoveries.

Issues of access in a more material sense will probably continue to require our vigilant attention for some time to come.  The new W3C standards address uniformity of code for users who may be sight-impaired or hearing-impaired, for instance.  However, the most basic of access functionalities - the posession of a computer -  is still out of the realm of many people in all countries.  Writers, publishers and librarians will undoubtedly seek to extend the availability of computers as a way of expanding the participation in e-literature.

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© Marjorie Coverley Luesebrink // The Lore and Lay of E-land // Kessesaw State University, March, 2002