The Collection contains links to sites about many important English language authors. The authors selected primarily represent the literary canon taught in high schools and college English classes. The collection was aimed to serve high school and college students, although it is expected to be of service to more advanced scholars as well. Many of the author entries include biography and interesting, relevant non-literary sources in addition to the criticism. Attempts were made to obtain the critical pieces from reputable sources.
Users can browse for criticism and biographical information by author name, period, or work title.
The collection was designed by Ken Irwin, Katie Stottlemyer, and David Carter with assistance from Patricia Memmott, Beth Atkinson, and Caitlin Tillman. Over a four month period, these students and staff members researched more than one hundred authors and hundreds of web sites, choosing the over 1000 sites which make up the collection at the time of opening. The Internet Public Library is a project based at the University of Michigan School of Information, staffed by professional librarians with assistance from students and volunteer librarians from around the world, and has been visited by more than seven million people from over 100 countries.