European Library
Encyclopedia
The European Library is an Internet
service that allows access to the resources of 48 Europe
an national libraries. Searching is free and delivers metadata records as well as digital objects (most for free, others at cost). The objects come from institutions located in countries which are members of the Council of Europe
and range from catalogue records to full-text books, magazines, journals and audio recordings. Thirty five different languages are represented among the searchable objects.
From 2011, The European Library is managing the Europeana Libraries project, which will aggregate over 5 million objects from 19 research libraries and make them available to Europeana
. These research libraries will also become partners in The European Library.
Its starting point was in 1997 when the GABRIEL (Gateway and Bridge to Europe’s National Libraries) project set out to establish a joint web portal of European national libraries. At a basic level, the portal provided information about each library’s collections and access to their online public access catalogues (OPACs).
GABRIEL was followed by the TEL (The European Library) project, which ran from 2001-2004 and created a framework for access to key national and deposit collections within Europe. The project was part-funded under the Fifth Framework Programme of the European Commission
. The national libraries involved in the TEL project were those of Finland, Germany, Italy (Florence), Italy (Rome), Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
This led to the launch of TheEuropeanLibrary.org portal on 17 March 2005.
Between 2005-2007, the TEL-ME-MOR project helped to incorporate 10 more national libraries from new European Union member states as full partners of The European Library. By the beginning of 2008, a further nine national libraries within the European Union and the European Free Trade Association had joined the service.
The European Library took a further step towards its enlargement with the EDLproject, during which national libraries continued to join The European Library. The project also focused on multilingualism, undertook the first steps towards a European Metadata Registry and created a roadmap for potential digitization efforts in the national libraries.
– a European Commission initiative that makes millions of digital objects from libraries, museums and archives accessible to the public via the Europeana website.
When the European Parliament called for Europeana to be established, the Conference of European National Librarians (CENL), under the auspices of the National Library of the Netherlands and CENL's service The European Library, were asked to submit for a project under the eContentplus programme. Work began on a prototype in 2007 and Europeana was launched in November 2008.
Europeana now operates independently but The European Library continues to work closely with Europeana. The European Library is the aggregator of digital content from national libraries for Europeana and delivers digital content from national libraries on a monthly basis to Europeana.
As of January 2011, The European Library was the third biggest content provider to Europeana, with over 1.2 million items added to the Europeana database.
Some human and technical resources are also shared between Europeana and The European Library.
. Its programme director is Jill Cousins.
Research Libraries who are joining The European Library in 2011 as a result of the Europeana Libraries project include:
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
service that allows access to the resources of 48 Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an national libraries. Searching is free and delivers metadata records as well as digital objects (most for free, others at cost). The objects come from institutions located in countries which are members of the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
and range from catalogue records to full-text books, magazines, journals and audio recordings. Thirty five different languages are represented among the searchable objects.
From 2011, The European Library is managing the Europeana Libraries project, which will aggregate over 5 million objects from 19 research libraries and make them available to Europeana
Europeana
Europeana.eu is an internet portal that acts as an interface to millions of books, paintings, films, museum objects and archival records that have been digitised throughout Europe...
. These research libraries will also become partners in The European Library.
History and concept
The European Library of today has evolved from a number of earlier projects.Its starting point was in 1997 when the GABRIEL (Gateway and Bridge to Europe’s National Libraries) project set out to establish a joint web portal of European national libraries. At a basic level, the portal provided information about each library’s collections and access to their online public access catalogues (OPACs).
GABRIEL was followed by the TEL (The European Library) project, which ran from 2001-2004 and created a framework for access to key national and deposit collections within Europe. The project was part-funded under the Fifth Framework Programme of the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
. The national libraries involved in the TEL project were those of Finland, Germany, Italy (Florence), Italy (Rome), Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
This led to the launch of TheEuropeanLibrary.org portal on 17 March 2005.
Between 2005-2007, the TEL-ME-MOR project helped to incorporate 10 more national libraries from new European Union member states as full partners of The European Library. By the beginning of 2008, a further nine national libraries within the European Union and the European Free Trade Association had joined the service.
The European Library took a further step towards its enlargement with the EDLproject, during which national libraries continued to join The European Library. The project also focused on multilingualism, undertook the first steps towards a European Metadata Registry and created a roadmap for potential digitization efforts in the national libraries.
| Year of Joining | National Libraries |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Netherlands, Switzerland, UK, Finland, France,Germany, Portugal, Italy-Florence, Italy-Rome |
| 2006 | Malta, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Estonia, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Serbia, Croatia, Denmark |
| 2007 | Belgium, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Russia-Moscow |
| 2008 | Albania, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Georgia, Moldova,Montenegro, Romania, Turkey, Russia Saint Petersburg, Ukraine |
| * | San Marino, Vatican City (collections not searchable) |
The European Library and Europeana
The European Library provided much of the organization and support required to launch EuropeanaEuropeana
Europeana.eu is an internet portal that acts as an interface to millions of books, paintings, films, museum objects and archival records that have been digitised throughout Europe...
– a European Commission initiative that makes millions of digital objects from libraries, museums and archives accessible to the public via the Europeana website.
When the European Parliament called for Europeana to be established, the Conference of European National Librarians (CENL), under the auspices of the National Library of the Netherlands and CENL's service The European Library, were asked to submit for a project under the eContentplus programme. Work began on a prototype in 2007 and Europeana was launched in November 2008.
Europeana now operates independently but The European Library continues to work closely with Europeana. The European Library is the aggregator of digital content from national libraries for Europeana and delivers digital content from national libraries on a monthly basis to Europeana.
As of January 2011, The European Library was the third biggest content provider to Europeana, with over 1.2 million items added to the Europeana database.
Some human and technical resources are also shared between Europeana and The European Library.
Virtual exhibitions
In addition to its search engine, The European Library pulls together themes from the collections of Europe's national libraries and displays them in virtual exhibitions. These exhibitions unite geographically disparate objects in a single online space, offering Pan-European sources on the topic.- Reading Europe: Almost 1,000 books selected by national libraries, with curatorial information and full-text versions in most cases.
- A Roma Journey: Texts, photographs, paintings and recordings of traditional songs showing the heritage of the Romani people in Europe.
- Napoleonic Wars: A selection of portraits, military maps, city plans, letters, books and other material from the Napoleonic WarsNapoleonic WarsThe Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. - Treasures of Europe's National Libraries: A collection of objects selected by Europe's national libraries as some of the most outstanding items in their collections.
- National Library Buildings: Images of the National Libraries that are partners of The European Library.
Financing and ownership
The European Library is financed by its owners, the Conference of European National Librarians (CENL). The portal is maintained by The European Library Office located in the premises of the Dutch Royal Library in The HagueThe Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
. Its programme director is Jill Cousins.
Partner libraries
The 48 National Libraries who participate in The European Library project are:- Albania: Biblioteka Kombëtare e ShqipërisëNational Library of AlbaniaThe National Library of Albania is an Albanian national library headquartered in the capital, Tirana. It was founded in 1920 and inaugurated on December 10, 1922.- References :...
- Armenia: Հայաստանի Ազգային գրադարանNational Library of ArmeniaThe National Library of Armenia is the legal deposit and copyright for Armenia. It is located in Yerevan. The building dates from 1939 and was designed to house seven million books. The oldest book is Urbatagirk .- References :*...
- Austria: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek
- Azerbaijan: Mirzə Fətəli Axundov adına Azərbaycan Milli Kitabxanası
- Belgium: Koninklijke Bibliotheek BelgiëRoyal Library of BelgiumThe Royal Library of Belgium is one of the most important cultural institutions in Belgium. The library has a history that goes back to the age of the Dukes of Burgundy...
- Bosnia and Herzegovina: Nacionalna i univerzitetska biblioteka Bosne i Hercegovine
- Bulgaria: Национална библиотека „Свети Свети Кирил и Методий
- Croatia: Nacionalna i sveučilišna knjižnica u Zagrebu
- Cyprus: Κυπριακή Βιβλιοθήκη
- Czech Republic: Národní knihovna Ceské republiky
- Denmark: Det Kongelige Bibliotek
- Estonia: Eesti RahvusraamatukoguNational Library of EstoniaThe National Library of Estonia is a national public institution in Estonia, which operates pursuant to the National Library of Estonia Act...
- Finland: KansalliskirjastoNational Library of FinlandThe National Library of Finland is the foremost research library in Finland. Administratively the library is part of the University of Helsinki. Until 1 August 2006, it was known as the Helsinki University Library....
- Macedonia: Nacionalna i univerzitetska biblioteka Sv. Kliment Ohridski
- France: Bibliothèque nationale de France
- Georgia: საქართველოს პარლამენტის ეროვნული ბიბლიოთეკაNational Parliamentary Library of GeorgiaThe National Parliamentary Library of Georgia is a governmental organization under the Parliament of Georgia. It is the main book depository of Georgia, as well as the most important cultural, educational, scientific, informational and methodological centre....
- Germany: German National Library
- Greece: Εθνική ΒιβλιοθήκηNational Library of GreeceThe National Library of Greece is situated near the center of city of Athens. It was designed by the Danish architect Theophil Freiherr von Hansen, as part of his famous Trilogy of neo-classical buildings including the Academy of Athens and the original building of the Athens...
- Hungary: Országos Széchényi Könyvtár
- Iceland: Landsbókasafn Íslands — Háskólabókasafn
- Ireland: Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireannNational Library of IrelandThe National Library of Ireland is Ireland's national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The Minister for Arts, Sport & Tourism is the member of the Irish Government responsible for the library....
- Italy-Florence: Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di FirenzeNational Central Library (Florence)The Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze is a public national library in Florence, the largest in Italy and one of most important in Europe, one of the two central libraries of Italy, along with the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale of Rome.-History:...
- Italy-Rome: Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale
- Latvia: Latvijas Nacionālā bibliotēka
- Liechtenstein: Liechtensteinische Landesbibliothek
- Lithuania: Lietuvos nacionalinė Martyno Mažvydo bibliotekaMartynas Mažvydas National Library of LithuaniaMartynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania is a national cultural institution which collects, organizes and preserves Lithuania’s written cultural heritage content, develops the collection of Lithuanian and foreign documents relevant to research, educational and cultural needs of Lithuania,...
- Luxembourg: Bibliothèque nationale de LuxembourgNational Library of LuxembourgThe Bibliothèque nationale de Luxembourg is the legal deposit and copyright library for Luxembourg. It was established in 1899 in place of the municipal library which dated from 1798. It has currently 750,000 books and 3500 periodicals.-Further reading :* La Bibliothèque nationale de Luxembourg....
- Malta: Bibljoteka Nazzjonali ta' MaltaNational Library of MaltaThe National Library of Malta began in 1555. It is currently the legal deposit and copyright for Malta. Its collection spans the personal libraries of the Knights of Malta , including archives from the medieval Università dei Giurati of Mdina and Valletta.-Early history:The idea of a public Library...
- Moldova: Biblioteca Naţională a Republicii MoldovaNational Library of MoldovaThe National Library of Moldova is on 31-August-1989 Street in Chişinău. It was founded on August 22, 1832. The Director General is currently Alexe Rău.The architect of it was A. Ambartumian...
- Montenegro: Centralna narodna biblioteka Crne Gore
- Netherlands: Koninklijke Bibliotheek
- Norway: Nasjonalbiblioteket
- Poland: Biblioteka NarodowaNational Library of PolandThe National Library of Poland is the central Polish library, subject directly to the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland....
- Portugal: Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal
- Romania: Biblioteca Naţională a RomânieiNational Library of RomaniaBiblioteca Naţională a României is the National Library of Romania. It is intended to be the repository of all that is published in Romania.-History:...
- Russia-Moscow: Российская государственная библиотекаRussian State LibraryThe Russian State Library is the national library of Russia, located in Moscow. It is the largest in the country and the third largest in the world for its collection of books . It was named the V. I...
- Russia-St.Petersburg: Rossiiskaya Natsionalnaya Biblioteka
- San Marino: Biblioteca di Stato e Beni Librari
- Serbia: Народна библиотека Србије / Narodna biblioteka SrbijeNational Library of SerbiaThe National Library of Serbia is the national library of Serbia, located in the city of Belgrade, .-History:...
- Slovakia: Slovenská národná knižnica
- Slovenia: Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica
- Spain: Biblioteca Nacional de España
- Sweden: Kungliga biblioteket
- Switzerland: Swiss National Library
- Turkey: Millî KütüphaneNational Library of TurkeyMillî Kütüphane is the National Library of Turkey, located in Ankara. It was founded on April 15, 1946. Milli Kütüphane has one of the richest collections in Turkey. The collection consists of 2.945.009 items, which can be categorized as follows:...
- Ukraine: Національна бібліотека України імені В.І. Вернадського
- United Kingdom: British LibraryBritish LibraryThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
- Vatican City: Bibliotheca Apostolica VaticanaVatican LibraryThe Vatican Library is the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City. It is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. Formally established in 1475, though in fact much older, it has 75,000 codices from...
Research Libraries who are joining The European Library in 2011 as a result of the Europeana Libraries project include:
- Bavarian State LibraryBavarian State LibraryThe Bavarian State Library in Munich is the central "Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria and one of Europe's most important universal libraries. With its collections currently comprising around 9.39 million books, it ranks among the best research libraries...
- Belgrade University LibraryBelgrade University LibraryThe Svetozar Marković University Library is the central library within the system of the University of Belgrade’s libraries, named after Svetozar Marković, Serbian political activist in the 19th century...
- Hungarian Parliament Library
- National Library of WalesNational Library of WalesThe National Library of Wales , Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales; one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies.Welsh is its main medium of communication...
- Romanian AcademyRomanian AcademyThe Romanian Academy is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 acting members who are elected for life....
Library - Trinity College Dublin
- Universidad Complutense de Madrid
- University of BerneUniversity of BerneThe University of Bern is a university in the Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a broad choice of courses and programmes in eight faculties and some 160 institutes. The university is an...
- University College of London
- University of Ghent
- University of Leuven
- University of Lund
- University of OxfordUniversity of OxfordThe University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
- University of Sibiu
- University of TartuUniversity of TartuThe University of Tartu is a classical university in the city of Tartu, Estonia. University of Tartu is the national university of Estonia; it is the biggest and highest-ranked university in Estonia...
- University of Uppsala
- University of ViennaUniversity of ViennaThe University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
- Wellcome Trust LibraryWellcome LibraryThe Wellcome Library is founded on the collection formed by Sir Henry Wellcome , whose personal wealth allowed him to create one of the most ambitious collections of the 20th century. Henry Wellcome's interest was the history of medicine in a broad sense and included subjects like alchemy or...
- Zentralbibliothek ZürichZentralbibliothek ZürichZentralbibliothek Zürich is the main library of both the city and the University of Zürich, housed in the Predigerkloster, the former Black Friars' abbey, in the old town's Rathaus quarter....