Heritage Institutions Serving Virtual Communities

Some weeks ago the ‘Bridging Worlds Conference‘ – organized by the National Library Board Singapore – took place in Hotel Intercontinental, Singapore.

Besides updates of web generation X (web2.0, 3.0, etc) developments, the conference was also about us living in a shrinking world and the simultaneous elaboration of virtual communities – groups of people that share perceptions and/or interests whether they live in the same country, region or spread over this planet and how we as memory institutions, guardians of cultural heritage and knowledge deal with these facts. How far on top we are of all related issues, and dimensions… Indeed it was a great pleasure to be there, to get a greater understanding of the issues at work when we talk about communities within the public domain and to share ideas about these and related topics.

Keynote speakers:

1. RADM (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, Senior Minister of State for Education, Information, Communications and the Arts

2. Nayla Al Khaja, Filmmaker

3. Penny Carnaby – National Librarian, National Library New Zealand

4. His Excellency Dr Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN

If you are curious about my bit – I did a presentation on the marketing approach of The European Library and its relation with Europeana – click on “Virtual Communities in Europe: the cultural mix and how the European Library has responded”

 

An Impression of Europeana Conference (June08)

 

Conference on digitisation of cultural heritage in Europe

The French ministry of culture and communication is organising the conference “digitisation of cultural heritage in Europe” in the context of the French presidency of the European Union.

when: November 27-28
where: Paris, France
website: htpp://www.numerisationeurope.eu

The digitisation of cultural heritage is a major priority in the culture agenda of the French presidency of the Council of the European Union. Digitisation and on line accessibility of cultural material are essential for enhancing the promotion of cultural heritage, stimulating the creation of contents and fostering new on-line services. It contributes to the democratisation of access to culture and to the development of the information society and the knowledge economy.

This conference will present to a large professional audience the EUROPEANA prototype, a multilingual access point to digitised heritage in Europe. Acomprehensive overview of European achievements will also be on the programme : EUROPEANA, MICHAEL, national and thematic portals, networking of digitised contents (archives, libraries, museums, audio-visual,architectural and archaeological heritage), new uses and new services for the public, models for public private partnerships.

More information at www.numerisationeurope.eu

 

Europeana

The central access point to European cultural heritage which became known as “European digital library” (EDL) has changed its name. From now on the one and only correct title is Europeana. This news was revealed during a big international conference taken place just before the weekend. During the same event a very first demo version of the cross-domain service was presented.

Taken from the many positive reactions and the spontaneous applause right after the presentation of Europeana, the conference was a big success.

NB: More details will follow soon!!

 

For now:

Europeana (formerly known as European digital library or EDL) will give integrated access to Europe’s cultural richness. Users of this cross-domain service will be able to search and explore books, music, films, archival resources and many more material that has been made available by museums, archives, libraries and audio-visual institutions from across Europe.

Europeana is built upon the framework of The European Library. The latter gives combined access to the resources of Europe’s national libraries. Users can search cross-library or focus on one particular national library. The portal also gives free access to a whole range of cultural treasures and includes a web-exhibition on postcards. To try it out go to http://www.TheEuropeanLibrary.org