This collection provides the first comprehensive account of eResearch and the new empiricism as they are transforming the field of Australian literary studies in the twenty-first century. These effects are especially evident in the exponential expansion of the online research environment, the rise of book history, print culture studies, the history of reading and publishing, and in the resulting transformation of Australian literary criticism and history.

The essays range from accounts of the state of the discipline in its international contexts with a particular focus on future directions, to exemplary applications of empirical methods by leading critics and scholars. Reports on current large-scale online projects that represent a significant future direction of literary studies in Australia are also included. Together, they demonstrate the possibilities and the range of new empirical and electronic approaches to Australian literary studies.