EServer.org

The EServer is an open access electronic publishing cooperative, founded in 1990, which publishes writings in the arts and humanities free of charge to Internet readers. It is rated by Alexa as the most popular arts and humanities website in the world. As of 2005, the EServer published more than 32,000 works. In December 2006 it hosted approximately 66,000 readers per day (two million per month).

Martha L. Brogan and Daphnée Rentfrow wrote in 2005 that it has "more than 200 active members, including editors of an eclectic mix of 45 discrete 'collections' (Web sites), which 'publish' more than 32,000 works."Duke University Library rates the EServer among the "best overall directories for literary information on the Web."

The EServer publishes written works in the arts and humanities, largely (but not exclusively) those from the Western cultural tradition. In addition to literature such as poetry, novels, drama and short stories, the EServer publishes seven scholarly journals. Most releases are in English, but there are also significant numbers in many other languages. Whenever possible, EServer publications are released in open standards, such as XHTML.

The EServer was founded in 1990, when a group of graduate students set up their office computer in "Trailer H" on the Carnegie Mellon University campus network to permit them to collaborate with one another. In 1991, with the addition of more disk space, it became an Internet network server designed to provide public access (via FTP, telnet and to literary research, criticism, novels, and writings from various humanities disciplines.

The site, originally called the English Server, was dedicated to publishing works in the arts and humanities free of charge to Internet readers. It was developed to assist leisure reading in particular, following a study by Geoffrey Sauer (the site's director) into the rapid and significant increase of books in the United States post-1979 and a consequent decrease in leisure readings among young Americans. By 1992 it was an extremely popular and FTP site, and by 1993 had a significant World Wide Web presence.

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