# Electronic Literature Lab

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The **Electronic Literature Lab**, housed in [Washington State University, Vancouver](/source/Washington_State_University_Vancouver), maintains obsolete computers and hardware to preserve and present early [electronic literature](/source/Electronic_literature), [video games](/source/Video_game), and internet works such as Instagram zines.[1] It was founded in 2008 by [Dene Grigar](/source/Dene_Grigar).[2]

## Laboratory description

The Electronic Literature Lab holds the hardware and software that the [NEXT Museum, Library, and Preservation Space](/source/The_NEXT_Museum) depends on to show electronic literature works in their original environment.[3] The lab forms the center of archiving electronic literature for the [Electronic Literature Organization](/source/Electronic_Literature_Organization).[4] Because electronic literature works were built on specific hardware, software, and platforms, these works are now largely inaccessible as hardware and software becomes obsolete.[5] Thus the lab maintains over 80 [vintage computers](/source/Vintage_computer) from 1977 onwards[6][7] to serve over 3,000[8] works of electronic literature[9] for researchers to analyze, such as the over 60 works from [M.D. Coverley.](/source/Marjorie_Luesebrink)[10] The lab also hosts video games, such as *[Amnesia](/source/Amnesia_(1986_video_game))* (1986).[11]

This lab has been called unique as it is "a reading room preserves literature, art and games created on computers that cannot be printed."[12] James O'Sullivan called it "what is possibly the greatest collection of first-generation e-lit in the Western world."[13] As Kristin Lillvis and Melinda White note, "the Electronic Literature Lab has preserved many of these works in the collection through restoration processes involving migration and emulation to make them once-again accessible."[14] The lab documents these archival processes in scholarly publications such as *The Challenges of Born-Digital Fiction* (2023)[15] and *Traversals: The Use of Preservation for Early Electronic Writing* (2018).[16]

[Dene Grigar](/source/Dene_Grigar) founded and directs this lab.[17] She describes her theory of preservation for electronic items in her 2025 [Ted Talk](/source/Ted_Talk) *Making the Virtual Real and the Real Virtual.*[18] As [Jan Beatens](/source/Jan_Baetens) explained, [Stuart Moulthrop](/source/Stuart_Moulthrop) and [Dene Grigar](/source/Dene_Grigar) explicate the challenges in this pioneering field of preserving electronic literature in the Electronic Literature Lab.[19] Part of this work is interviews with pioneers in the electronic literature field such as Bob Stein, founder of [Voyager Press](/source/Voyageur_Press).[20]

This is a working research lab as "Kristin Lillvis and Melinda White note: "even more significantly, the Electronic Literature Lab has preserved many of these works in the collection through restoration processes involving migration and emulation to make them once-again accessible."[21] ELL hosts online events such as the *List of 280 Women E-Lit Pioneers & Visionaries (1985-2020).*[22] The lab has hosted post-graduate students and research studies into born digital works.[23][24] Electronic literature critics, such as [Astrid Ensslin](/source/Astrid_Ensslin)[25] and [Mariusz Pisarski](/source/Mariusz_Pisarski), have collaborated with WSUV students and professors to analyze and archive electronic literature works.[26] The works from the lab were exhibited at the Library of Congress in 2013.[27]

## Awards and grants

The lab received an Open Scholarship Award from the Canadian Social Knowledge Institute in 2022.[28]

Other grant and award-winning studies at the lab included *Chronicles: Documenting the Articulation of Culture in Video Games (2016)*, by Madeleine Brookman which garnered WSUV's 2016 Emeritus Society Undergraduate Research Award,[29] the 2015 CAS Summer Mini-Grant, and the 2014-5 Auvril Fellowship.[23]

## References

1. Germain, Thomas (2025-05-18). ["Still booting after all these years: The people stuck using ancient Windows computers"](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250516-the-people-stuck-using-ancient-windows-computers). *BBC*. Retrieved 2025-05-25.

1. ["The Electronic Literature Lab"](https://dtc-wsuv.org/electronic-literature-lab/history.html). *dtc-wsuv.org*. Retrieved 2025-08-09.

1. ["Electronic Literature Lab (ELL) | ELMCIP"](https://elmcip.net/organizations/electronic-literature-lab-ell). *elmcip.net*. Retrieved 2025-05-25.

1. Grigar, Dene (May 2019). ["Archiving Electronic Literature: Selection Criteria, Methodology, and Challenges"](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333126605). *Journal of Archival Organization*. **15** (1–2): 20–33. [doi:10.1080/15332748.2019.1609310](https://doi.org/10.1080/15332748.2019.1609310)

1. culturalstudiesleuven (2018-07-02). ["Traversals: The Use of Preservation for Early Electronic Writing"](https://culturalstudiesleuven.net/2018/07/02/traversals-the-use-of-preservation-for-early-electronic-writing/). *Cultural Studies Leuven*. Retrieved 2025-05-25.

1. ["The Electronic Literature Lab"](https://dtc-wsuv.org/electronic-literature-lab/index.html). *dtc-wsuv.org*. Retrieved 2024-05-06.

1. webmaster (2025-05-19). ["La tecnología que se negó a morir: cómo Windows XP, DOS y otros fantasmas digitales aún gobiernan el mundo"](https://mimanizalesdelalma.com/internacional/la-tecnologia-que-se-nego-a-morir-como-windows-xp-dos-y-otros-fantasmas-digitales-aun-gobiernan-el-mundo/) (in Spanish). *mi Manizales del alma!*. Retrieved 2025-08-23.

1. EBonline. ["Electronic Literature Lab"](https://earlybirds.io/listings/2183121-Electronic%20Literature%20Lab). *EarlyBirds Open Innovation Ecosystem*. Retrieved 2025-08-23.

1. ["Pathfinders: Collection of Early Digital Literature in the Electronic Literature Lab (ELL)"](https://scalar.usc.edu/works/pathfinders/the-electronic-literature-collection). *Pathfinders*. Retrieved 2025-08-23.

1. Lillvis, Kristen & White, Melinda (2023-08-28). ["Review: Marjorie C. Luesebrink Collection at ELO's The NEXT"](https://reviewsindh.pubpub.org/pub/marjorie-c-luesebrink-collection/release/1). *Reviews in Digital Humanities*. **IV** (8). [doi:10.21428/3e88f64f.fb0bd342](https://doi.org/10.21428/3e88f64f.fb0bd342). [ISSN 2766-9297](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/2766-9297)

1. ["fireworks24 added AMNESIA: Restored to Computer"](https://itch.io/e/30084438/fireworks24-added-to-computer). *itch.io*. Retrieved 2025-07-13.

1. ["WSUV's Electronic Literature Lab 'the only place in the world that does born-digital conservation'"](https://www.columbian.com/news/2025/jul/28/wsuvs-electronic-literature-lab-the-only-place-in-the-world-that-does-born-digital-conservation/). *The Columbian*. 2025-08-01. Retrieved 2025-08-23.

1. O'Sullivan, James (2017-11-07). ["Electronic Literature's Contemporary Moment: Breeze and Campbell's "All the Delicate Duplicates""](https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/electronic-literature-turns-a-new-page-breeze-and-campbells-all-the-delicate-duplicates). *[Los Angeles Review of Books](/source/Los_Angeles_Review_of_Books)*. [OCLC 904358349](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/904358349). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20250816152955/https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/electronic-literature-turns-a-new-page-breeze-and-campbells-all-the-delicate-duplicates) 2025-08-16 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-09-10.

1. Lillvis, Kristen & White, Melinda (2023-08-28). ["Review: Marjorie C. Luesebrink Collection at ELO's The NEXT"](https://reviewsindh.pubpub.org/pub/marjorie-c-luesebrink-collection/release/1). *Reviews in Digital Humanities*. **IV** (8). [doi:10.21428/3e88f64f.fb0bd342](https://doi.org/10.21428/3e88f64f.fb0bd342). [ISSN 2766-9297](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/2766-9297)

1. Grigar, Dene & Pisarski, Mariusz (February 2024). ["The Challenges of Born-Digital Fiction: Editions, Translations, and Emulations"](https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/abs/challenges-of-borndigital-fiction/D7C93C1C77F8ED920D86234E00AF1448). *Elements in Digital Literary Studies*. [doi:10.1017/9781009181488](https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009181488). ISBN 978-1-009-18148-8.

1. Stuart, Moulthrop; Dene, Grigar; Joseph, Tabbi (2017-04-07). ["Traversals: The Use of Preservation for Early Electronic Writing"](https://academic.oup.com/mit-press-scholarship-online/book/30669). *OUP Academic*. [doi:10.7551/mitpre](https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpre)

1. ["Electronic Literature Lab | Washington State University"](https://vancouver.labs.wsu.edu/grigar-ell/). *vancouver.labs.wsu.edu*. Retrieved 2025-05-25.

1. TEDx Talks (2025-04-09). [*Making the Virtual Real and the Real Virtual | Dene Grigar | TEDxMarshallU*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG_v7hiLwAk). Retrieved 2025-05-26. – via YouTube.

1. ["Review of Traversals: The Use of Preservation for Early Electronic Writing"](https://leonardo.info/review/2018/07/review-of-traversals-the-use-of-preservation-for-early-electronic-writing). *Leonardo/ISASTwith Arizona State University*. 2018-07-01. Retrieved 2025-05-25.

1. Electronic Literature Lab (ELL) (2019-10-31). [*Electronic Literature Lab: Interview with Bob Stein of Voyager*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7c_cFQ3A6g). Retrieved 2025-08-23. – via YouTube.

1. Lillvis, Kristen & White, Melinda (2023-08-28). ["Review: Marjorie C. Luesebrink Collection at ELO's The NEXT"](https://reviewsindh.pubpub.org/pub/marjorie-c-luesebrink-collection/release/1). *Reviews in Digital Humanities*. **IV** (8). [doi:10.21428/3e88f64f.fb0bd342](https://doi.org/10.21428/3e88f64f.fb0bd342). [ISSN 2766-9297](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/2766-9297)

1. ["Nuestras voces en la historia de la literatura electrónica"](https://centroculturadigital.mx/revista/nuestras-voces-en-la-historia-de-la-literatura-electronica). *centroculturadigital.mx*. Retrieved 2025-08-23.

1. ["Rebooting Electronic Literature: About the Electronic Literature Lab and Its Library of Electronic Media"](https://scalar.usc.edu/works/rebooting-electronic-literature/about-the-electronic-literature-lab-and-its-library-of-electronic-media). *Rebooting Electronic Literature: Documenting Pre-Web Born Digital Media*. Retrieved 2025-08-23.

1. Pawlicka-Deger, Urszula. ["research | Urszula Pawlicka-Deger"](https://www.pawlickadeger.com/_pages/research/). *www.pawlickadeger.com*. Retrieved 2025-08-23.

1. ["Digital Histories: A review of Astrid Ensslin's Pre-web Digital Publishing and the Lore of Electronic Literature | ebr"](https://electronicbookreview.com/publications/digital-histories-a-review-of-astrid-ensslins-pre-web-digital-publishing-and-the-lore-of-electronic-literature/). *electronicbookreview.com*. Retrieved 2025-08-23.

1. ["International scholars join Electronic Literature Lab"](https://cas.wsu.edu/2020/09/09/international-scholars-join-electronic-literature-lab/). *College of Arts and Sciences*. Retrieved 2025-05-25.

1. Ashenfelder, Mike (2013-11-13). ["Preserving Vintage Electronic Literature | The Signal"](https://blogs.loc.gov/thesignal/2013/11/preserving-vintage-electronic-literature). *The Library of Congress*. Retrieved 2025-08-23.

1. ["2022 Open Scholarship Awards | Electronic Textual Cultures Lab"](https://etcl.uvic.ca/2022/01/25/2022-open-scholarship-awards/). *etcl.uvic.ca*. Retrieved 2025-05-25.

1. ["2016 Undergraduate Research Award Winners | Emerita/Emeritus Society | Washington State University"](https://emeritussociety.wsu.edu/2016-undergraduate-research-award-winners/). *emeritussociety.wsu.edu*. Retrieved 2025-08-23.

## External links

- [Electronic Literature Lab official website](https://vancouver.labs.wsu.edu/grigar-ell/)
- [The NEXT Museum, Library, and Preservation, Space website](https://the-next.eliterature.org/)
- [Infographic](https://katyafarinsky.com/portfolio/electronic-literature-lab-infographic.html) on ELL's importance to electronic literature

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Electronic Literature Lab](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Literature_Lab) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Literature_Lab?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.