At the heart of The NEXT is the concern of maintaining and sharing the cultural record of human expression, from the period Jay David Bolter calls the "late age of print"
(Writing Space 1) to the digital age. This mission is evident in the way we have not only built our collections—including combining born—digital literature, net art, and games from a wide range of sources—but also making them readily accessible to all for years to come.
Many people contribute to the development and maintenance of The NEXT, from Electronic Literature Organization's Board of Directors; scholars & artists involved in the field of born-digital literature & the Electronic Literature Lab; and designers, developers, & content and social media specialists at Washington State University Vancouver.
The NEXT was seeded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and hosted through the generosity of the Electronic Textual Cultures Lab at the University of Victoria and Compute Canada. It is currently supported by Electronic Literature Organization, Washington State University Vancouver, and the Electronic Literature Lab. We have also received funding from the Society of American Archivists and individual donors such as Marjorie C. Luesebrink, Deena Larsen, and N. Katherine Hayles.
