This is a collection of short essays by students at Brigham Young University (Provo, Utah) who push the boundaries of traditional literary study to explore the benefits of digital tools in academic writing. It is intended for all those who value literary studies and who sense the coming change in how books are read, discussed, and written about in the digital age. It is a collaborative project, produced by students of an advanced writing course at Brigham Young University taught by Gideon Burton in May and June of 2011.
The chapters deal with how electronic text formats and blogging can be effectively used to explore literary works, develop one's thinking publicly, and research socially. Students used literary works to read the emerging digital environment while simultaneously using new media to connect with audiences beyond the classroom.
Professor Burton wrote the introduction and 3 students edited the book. The professor and the students in the class each wrote one of the 17 chapters, dealing with contemporary issues for authors, such as Authorial Online Presence, Online Identity, Information Entitlement, Social Technology, Changing the Learning Process, and more.