Beyond Digital Incunabula: Modeling the Next Generation of Digital Libraries

This paper describes several incunabular assumptions that impose upon early digital libraries the limitations drawn from print, and argues for a design strategy aimed at providing customization and personalization services that go beyond the limiting models of print distribution, based on services and experiments developed for the Greco-Roman collections in the Perseus Digital Library. Three features fundamentally characterize a successful digital library design: finer granularity of collection objects, automated processes, and decentralized community contributions.