From left, Christopher Day and Dr. D. Russell Bailey of Phillips Memorial Library, and Dr. Peter M. Johnson, professor of English, spoke at a recent library reception celebrating the digitization of Johnson's journal The Prose Poem.

A poetry journal founded by a professor at Providence College over 15 years ago is the first such journal now available to the public as part of the College's Digital Commons in Phillips Memorial Library.

Dr. Peter M. Johnson, professor of English at PC, began editing The Prose Poem: An International Journal in 1992 and did so until 2000. Although the journal is now out of print, Johnson said that interest in the production remains high.

"It's a very meaningful project," he said. "I am constantly being asked for out-of-print copies of my journal."

Each issue of the publication featured about 80 to 90 prose poems--a form characterized by metaphorical language and narrative without conforming to traditional poetic structure. Eight issues were published in all, as well as a final "Best Of" volume that included some of the most popular selections from previous volumes.

The entire collection is in the process of being uploaded to the Digital Commons, an institutional repository for faculty and student papers, conference presentations, and other academic work, and is the first journal to be included there. All information in the Digital Commons is freely accessible to the public, and new material is being added constantly.

"As it grows, it will be a central location for this material, and as it is an open archive it will make it available to a worldwide community," said Christopher Day, cataloging and digital projects librarian in Phillips Memorial Library. "It will expose the work to a wider audience and help researchers to make new connections."

Currently, there are 465 items available as part of the Digital Commons, including seven departmental collections and a series of student papers from a theory practice seminar in social work.

The first issue of The Prose Poem was uploaded in November 2007. As of the end of May, it had received 642 visitors and over 230 downloads of the complete text. The second issue, added in February, had 773 visitors and 323 downloads as of the same time. The third issue is in the process of being added.

In April, a reception was held in Phillips Memorial Library to introduce the journal to the College community and explain the progress being made with the Digital Commons.

"This is intellectual material that sits on our shelves and hard drives," said Dr. D. Russell Bailey, director of the library. "There's a push to make it available to everyone."

The Digital Commons is available online at http://digitalcommons.providence.edu.