I propose a session that frames the library as a junk shop. Inspired by the bricolage and pastiche skills cultivated by second-hand print cultures (zinesters, collagists, Dada), participants will subvert the library’s traditional role as a searchable repository by browsing the stacks for provocative visual rhetoric just as one might at their local thrift store. Participants will then reproduce their scavenged fodder, bringing them into their own compositions by using the copy/scan features of photocopiers found on every floor of the library.

Though I’ve used this activity with a unit on self-publishing (and will share this handout I’ve used), we might end this session by sharing our own compositions and discussing various ways we can reframe it in our own classes as a way to introduce students to multiple resources in our libraries, encourage visual composition, and to emphasize the role of serendipity and exploration in research.

I propose a session to talk about the playful aspects of electronic literature and web writing. We’ll see some example projects, explore some tools, and mess with digital text in a variety of ways, thinking about pedagogical and creative uses of text on the web and the tools we have to create, unmake, and distribute them.

Guiding principles:

the web is not read-only

text + interactivity = fun

you don’t need to know how to write a computer program to write a computer program

e-literature = “works with important literary aspects that take advantage of the capabilities and contexts provided by the stand-alone or networked computer.”

For some background information and a sneak peek at the tools we’ll be using, check out:
reallysystem.org/cny2017