The training layer: a meta-aggregator / CELL Project: Consortium on Electronic Literature
CELL Project: Consortium on Electronic Literature
meta-aggregationMeta-aggregationField history and indexes of electronic, generative and computational literatureactive
The archive's reading. The archive reads CELL as the field's meta-aggregator, a discovery layer over member archives (ELMCIP among them, itself frozen since October 2026): its metadata is published as linked data (SPARQL, Wikidata) under each work's author, the machine-legible, attributed form in which a work can be found, and it states its aim as keeping works 'discoverable and preserved across generations of computational technology'. Its indexed records still need work-level relevance judgments before any of them bears on this census's question.
| Relation to this census | meta-aggregation |
|---|---|
| Record type | index |
| The question it answers | discovery: is a work cataloged by one of CELL's member archives, and under which author and archive? |
| Kind | an international, open-access collaboration providing centralized access to literary databases, archives, and institutional repositories; its home page is The Index of Electronic Literature |
| Operator | the Consortium on Electronic Literature (CELL), an international collaboration of member archives |
| Evidence | knowledge base; search tool |
| Unit of record | a cataloged creative work, shown with its member archive, author and year |
| What it records | born-digital creative works, kinetic poetry, hypertexts and interactive media cataloged by its member archives (ELMCIP, NT2, PO.EX, ELD, ADEL, Ciberia, DLD) |
| In the layer | not recorded: the saved page says nothing of training; its metadata is 'Linked with Wikidata' and served through a SPARQL query endpoint |
| Under whose name | each recently cataloged work is shown with its title, member archive, author and, where given, year (The File room, Ciberia, Antoni Muntadas, 1994) |
| Found and read back | a Search Works index across the member archives and a SPARQL Query Endpoint |
| What the apparatus makes from it | not recorded |
| Method | federation of member archives' catalogues into a central index |
| Coverage | geography: international; member archives include ELMCIP, NT2, PO.EX, ELD, ADEL, Ciberia and DLD; period: consortium initiated 2009; cataloged works run from Mallarmé's Un Coup de Dés to 2016 on the saved page |
| Count | value: 7 federated member archives listed; the number of works is not stated; as_of: 2026-11-01 (home page read) |
| Holdings | seven federated member archives: ELMCIP, NT2, PO.EX, ELD, ADEL, Ciberia, DLD; a Search Works index; a SPARQL Query Endpoint; metadata licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 and linked with Wikidata |
| Stated limits | the saved home page states none |
| Data access | open access; Search Works; SPARQL Query Endpoint; Member Archives Directory |
| Licence | 'Metadata licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0' |
| Lifecycle | state: active; detail: initiated in 2009; the home page shows recently cataloged works and a newsletter and join link |
| Version and time | initiated: 2009; read: 2026-11-01 |
| Founded | 2009 |
What its record can settle
- whether a work is cataloged by one of CELL's member archives, and by which
- a work's author and year as the member archive records them
What it cannot settle
- how many works the index holds (not stated)
- whether a work is in a training corpus or a model
- the work itself, held by the member archive or the author
Kept apart
- NOT an archive of the works: it indexes the member archives' catalogues
- NOT ELMCIP, which is one of its member archives
- NOT a training corpus: its open metadata is linked data, and the saved page says nothing of training
- NOT a relevance judgment: an indexed record is a discovery lead for this census
Relations
- uses: ELMCIP Electronic Literature Knowledge Base (ELMCIP is the first of CELL's federated member archives; ELMCIP's own page states it is frozen since October 2026)
- neighbour: Electronic Literature Collection (Wikipedia (third party, on the ELC row's source) lists the ELO's Managing Director of CELL)
- neighbour: electronic book review (electronic book review lists the Consortium for Electronic Literature (CELL) among its support and affiliations)
Evidence
- self_description (the resource's own statement):
Initiated in 2009, the Consortium on Electronic Literature (CELL) is an international, open-access collaboration providing centralized access to literary databases, archives, and institutional repositories.
https://cellproject.net/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d66ce3f648ca14c6… - aim (the resource's own statement):
CELL connects distributed collections to ensure born-digital creative works, kinetic poetry, hypertexts, and interactive media remain discoverable and preserved across generations of computational technology.
https://cellproject.net/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d66ce3f648ca14c6… - index (the resource's own statement):
The Index of Electronic Literature Discover creative works across electronic literature archives Search Works
https://cellproject.net/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d66ce3f648ca14c6… - members (the resource's own statement):
Federated Member Archives ELMCIP NT2 PO.EX ELD ADEL Ciberia DLD
https://cellproject.net/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d66ce3f648ca14c6… - record_example (the resource's own statement):
The File room Ciberia Antoni Muntadas 1994
https://cellproject.net/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d66ce3f648ca14c6… - mallarme (the resource's own statement):
Un Coup de Dés Jamais N'Abolira Le Hasard ELD Stéphane Mallarmé
https://cellproject.net/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d66ce3f648ca14c6… - latest_year (the resource's own statement):
This House Has People in It ELD Alan Resnick, Dina Kelberman, Robby Rackleff 2016
https://cellproject.net/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d66ce3f648ca14c6… - sparql (the resource's own statement):
SPARQL Query Endpoint
https://cellproject.net/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d66ce3f648ca14c6… - manifesto (the resource's own statement):
The CELL Open-Access Manifesto
https://cellproject.net/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d66ce3f648ca14c6… - license (the resource's own statement):
Metadata licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · Linked with Wikidata
https://cellproject.net/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d66ce3f648ca14c6…
Unchecked
the About, Members, Member Archives Directory and Open-Access Manifesto pages (not saved); the search index and the SPARQL endpoint's live output; the total number of works indexed
Cite: Lee Sharks, ed. "CELL Project: Consortium on Electronic Literature." The training layer: a meta-aggregator, traininglayerliterature.org, compiled 2026-11-01. https://www.traininglayerliterature.org/aggregators/cell