Welcome to The European Library Newsletter!
+ Agenda
+ In Focus; Antonios Maratheftis & the Cyprus Library
+ News
- The Mini
Library Comes In Different Colours!!!
- Open access to
The European Library Handbook
- 18 national libraries
participate in the TWG Web-meeting
- Top-10
“Interoperability” principals for a European digital library
+ Partners update; the Swiss
National Library
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The
European Library launched version 1.5 of the portal on the 15th of
May with significant improvements. Version
1.5 focused on developing usability and cleaning up some back end processes,
such as a simplified navigation menu, a broader virtual keyboard interface with
25 sets of language lay-outs, as well as FAQ’s introduction and mini search-box
alternatives.
In this Newsletter, Antonios
Maratheftis, Director of the Cyprus Library shares his insight about being part
of The European Library as Full Participant*. We also feature the Version 1.5
release, The European Library Handbook open access, the Technical Working
Group* web-meeting and interoperability principals for a European digital
library. We also announce several new jobs in The European Library/ European
Digital Library Office, so if you are interested click on the link in the Jobs and Careers section and send us your CV.
Note that you can find a definition of all terms with asterisks at the bottom of this Newsletter in our "Explanatory note".
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The process of creating the European Digital Library based on the
organizational and technical infrastructure of The European Library starts with
the EDL NET KICK OFF MEETING. The meeting is on 12-14 September 2007, at the
Koninklijke Bibliotheek in
EDL Net
kick off meeting is to be attended by all members of the EDLnet Thematic
Partner Network. During the meeting, work groups will be formed under the work
packages of:
+ Human and Political
Interoperability,
led by the MLA,
UK and ABM Centrum
(PDF format), Sweden and dealing with organizational and business requirements
and models for the European digital library.
+ Technical and Semantic
Interoperability,
led by Stefan Gradmann, Deputy Director of Hamburg University's Computing
Centre and Leader of the EU Interoperability Working Group and Makx Dekkers,
Managing Director of the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative.
This group will uncover the interoperability issues and take responsibility for
building the prototypes demonstrating user’s desires for the European digital library.
+ Users for Usability, led by Daniel Teruggi of the Institut
National de l’Audiovisuel,
Work
Package Leaders will meet on 5 July to start the development of the project
plan, adding concrete dates and forms of communication.
CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS THE
EUROPEAN LIBRARY IS PARTICIPATING IN DURING 2007:
+ IAEA,
2nd IAEA Technical Meeting, IAEA HQ,
+ Umbrella event, The University of Hertfordshire,
+ Eva
London Conference,
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IN FOCUS: ANTONIOS MARATHEFTIS – THE
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![Text Box: The Cyprus Library joined The European Library as Full participant* under TEL-ME-MOR* project in January 2007. Antonios Maratheftis, Director of the Library describes this changing phase for the Cyprus Library, its partnership with other national libraries across Europe and its collaborative level with other cultural institutions.
Antonios Maratheftis joined the Cyprus Library in 1999 following four years in the University of Cyprus Library as Librarian, then Acting Director and four years as a Lecturer for the University of Maryland (Heidelberg). Antonios has a Master of Library and Information Science and a [Philosophy] Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Anthropology/Folklore from the University of Texas-Austin.](newsletter_june_2007_files/image001.gif)
What
does Full Participant of The European Library imply in your organisation?
It implies prestige because of our close cooperation with some of the
greatest libraries in
Could
you voice your experience, advice basic participants, or perhaps comment on your
European Library collaboration during the Basic to Full Participant shift.
The Cyprus Library employs 10 people including non-professionals, and has
no marketing and research departments or any full-time technical support
personnel; if we, despite these
difficulties, managed to overcome the obstacles and succeed in
making the transition move, then surely any national library can make the step
from Basic to Full Participant.
Does
the
We have occasionally cooperated with the National
Library of Greece on various issues in the past and at present with EDLproject and The European Library. We also have cooperated with other colleagues
from CENL on various issues such as seeking
their valuable insight about copyright or building plans.
Is the
The Cyprus Library has cooperated in the past with the State Archives in
the field of preservation. A member of
the Library staff received practical training in the art of book preservation
and even though we now have our own preservation lab. in the Library, we still
rely on support and advice from the State Archives staff for the more difficult
preservation cases. The Library also has a close working relationship
with the University of
Cyprus Library. For example, there
is cooperation in trying to establish a union catalogue of libraries in
+ PORTAL RELEASE V_1.5: USABILITY AT THE CENTRE
OF INNOVATION
In an effort to
reduce the user comprehension barriers and to facilitate “search” patterns in a
complex network of multilingual data, The European Library regularly updates
its portal; each new release aims to bring the user a step closer to an instant
answer for a specific query among the 250 referenced digital collections of the
national libraries of
Launched on the 15th of May, Version 1.5 provides a radical improvement
in the speed that results are returned due to a change in the way the portal
loads. More functionality has been given to the user on the home page. It is now possible to limit your search to
one country and you can also access your personal selection from the home page. You may now enter your search using the
virtual keyboard in 25
sets of language lay-outs. This
improves the accuracy of your search results, finding items using particular
character sets in each partner library.
Along with these user focused innovations, The European Library is trying
harder to give the user more efficient access through the introduction of a simple
and comprehensive FAQ. This
new feature aims at increasing the understanding of the portal usage and the
ever evolving The European Library environment. Additionally, a 1st
time user guide has been uploaded in 10
languages (Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Spanish,
Norwegian, Portuguese) to help visitors get a better grasp of The European
Library portal possibilities.
Following the successful conclusion of TEL-ME-MOR project*,
The European Library integrated previous http://telmemor.net website
content into its archive section at the following address:
http://libraries.theeuropeanlibrary.org/cooperation/archive/telmemor/index.php
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+ THE MINI LIBRARY COMES IN
DIFFERENT COLOURS!!!
The
European Library search box is a free service offered to external parties that
wish to offer their visitors the ability to benefit from all the
functionalities of The European Library portal. This so-called ‘mini library’ comes now in different
lay-outs and formats, which allows webmasters to customise The European Library
search box to their own requirements.
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+ OPEN ACCESS TO THE EUROPEAN LIBRARY HANDBOOK
The European Library built, in just
over 2 years, a unique and free service that provides access to the digital
collections of the national libraries partners. This unique service has generated
specific research and development tools that are now all freely accessible in The European
Library Handbook; open access to the technical framework of The European
Library portal also shows the level of participation from The European Library’s
partners.
The European Library Handbook is primarily designed
to help Full Participants bring their collections into The European Library
portal. However, it also allows Full Participants to maintain and update their
collections' infrastructures, metadata and descriptions after their initial
online access. The European Library Handbook is regularly updated and reflects
the investigative conclusions of the Technical Working Group. As such it is felt that the knowledge we have
gained might be of use to others in the field or trying to create something similar. Therefore we have made the handbook openly
accessible to all.
Handbook Version 1.0 for example provides a unique
standalone OAI-PMH
installer so that libraries can make their collections OAI-PMH harvestable
and thus vastly improve access for The European Library and other remote search
engines. Such improvement in access will
be passed directly to the user who will gradually be able to move away from the
need to choose collections prior to launching a search.
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+ 18 NATIONAL LIBRARIES
PARTICIPATE IN THE TWG’S WEB-MEETING
Representatives from
eighteen national libraries met, on 27th April, via a web-meeting to
report on their activities since the last physical meeting of the Technical
Working Group (TWG) in January.
The
Technical Working Group, responsible for The European Library’s technology
strategy, provided updates on topics such as cross-language technologies,
providing access to The European Library collections through national library
portals and the “OAI installer” that will allow libraries to convert their
bibliographic records to The European Library format. A highlight of the
meeting was the
presentation of the technical specifications for the new release of The
European Library (version 1.5) which was launched on 15th May
2007. The next meeting of the Technical
Working Group will take place on 19th October 2007 at the National
Library of Slovenia in
The
Technical Working Group, responsible for The European Library’s technology
strategy and development provided work group updates on: metadata, character
sets cross-language technologies, providing
access to The European Library collections through national library portals and
the “OAI installer” that will allow libraries to convert their bibliographic
records to The European Library format. The next meeting of the Technical Working
Group will take place on 19th October 2007 at the National Library
of Slovenia in
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+ TOP-10
“INTEROPERABILITY” PRINCIPALS FOR A EUROPEAN DIGITAL LIBRARY
Interoperability – or the mechanisms by which the
content from museums, libraries and archives can be made searchable from one
portal – is one of the most important factors for the success of a European
digital library.
Since it was set up in
January 2007, the European Commission’s Interoperability Expert Group has been
identifying and drafting recommendations on “interoperability” which will
underpin the development of a European digital library. During their meeting on
4th May 2007 in Luxembourg, the group, which includes
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STATS AND FACTS
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+ Access
to the collections of 5 (
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THE SWISS
NATIONAL LIBRARY (NL) EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS
The Swiss National Library (NL) currently
features the following exhibitions and events across
+ “
+ “MYTHES
SUISSES – TELL IM VISIER”; Exhibition from the poster
collection of the Swiss National Library focused on the legendary “William Tell”.
Swiss National Library from November, 16th
2007 to March, 30th 2008.
Find out more by clicking on the NL events/exhibitions page.
The
European Library invites all National Libraries to tell others about their
national library initiatives or exhibition programmes through our Newsletter.
To do so, send your email to:
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+ JOBS AT THE EUROPEAN DIGITAL LIBRARY
To make the dream a reality we need your help!
Would you like to uncover the rich cultural heritage of
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The editorial content of the above Newsletter was gathered with the kind
cooperation of Antonios Maratheftis from the Cyprus Library, Hans-Dieter
Amstutz from the Swiss National Library (NL), Jill Cousins, Julie,
Verleyen, Sally Chambers, Fleur Stigter and
If you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe please send an
email to Info@TheEuropeanLibrary.org
The newsletter attached to this message is also published in PDF & HTML formats on our website at:
http://libraries.theeuropeanlibrary.org/newsletter/newsletterarchive_en.html
If you have any comments or
suggestions about the way we can further improve the newsletter or The European
Library portal please let us know! Use our feedback form or send your email to: Info@TheEuropeanLibrary.org
The European Library Technical Working Group represents The European Library members in issues
concerning metadata and protocols. This group (Full Participants only) makes
sure that technical developments are in line with strategy, and help to create
and test the portal and website.
TEL-ME-MOR was a project funded by the European Commission under the Sixth Framework Programme of the Information Society Technologies (IST) Programme. The TEL-ME-MOR project ran for 2 years from 1 February 2005 with the objectives of supporting the 10 national libraries from the New Member States in becoming Full Participants of The European Library.
The
participating partners of The European Library are either
Basic participants or Full
participants. The digital collections of Full Participants are “searchable”
through the European Library portal.
The European Library invites all National Libraries and members of CENL to communicate with our readers through this Newsletter or join the
“In Focus” list of participants. To do so, send your email to: Info@TheEuropeanLibrary.org