SYSTEMS AND ARCHITECTURE

A digital library "system" is composed of multiple hardware and software components, including the following:

• scanners
• computers and servers
• storage devices
• media
• catalogs
• converters
• networks
• displays
• multimedia interfaces
• usage measurement software
• human processing procedures
• reference assistants

All of the above are interconnected through networks and gateway software and must be designed for scalability, interoperability and reliability. This is a daunting challenge, particularly since the technology in many of the areas is changing rapidly. A system that uses one speech recognition system for input must be designed so that the recognizer can be replaced with another very quickly. Otherwise, the digital library, potentially one of the most responsive and useful systems in the world, can become fossilized.