In this presentation Olaf Janssen - Project Manager at The European Library - introduces the national libraries of Europe. He outlines the history, organisational and technical foundations of The European Library, the collaborative platform and website of the 48 national libraries of Europe. He outlines the benefits of collaboration between these institutions and explains how The European Library has established technical and metadata interoperability across Europe. He discusses the ingredients for a successful European Digital Library (to be called Europeana) and assess the current state of play and the remaining challenges. The conclusions are: * Common and open standards for access and interoperability are essential for a European Digital Library * The European Library is the forerunner * Building a European Digital Library is a much a political & social game as it is a technological * The willingness to collaborate is key!! I held this talk at the Library of Congress, Washington DC, USA, on 03-04-2007

1. Olaf D. Janssen
The European Library Office
The Hague, The Netherlands
The European (Digital) Library
LoC, 03-04-07

2. 1. National libraries in Europe
2. The European Library
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Common standards
3. Ingredients for successful European Digital
Library
Structure of presentation

3. Europe – relevant institutions
 European Union (EU)
- Founded 1992
- 27 members states
- Major project funder
More  www.eu.int
• Council of Europe (CoE)
- Founded 1949
- 46 member states, 800M people
- Aim: to achieve a greater unity
between its members.
More  www.coe.int
1. National libraries in
Europe

4.  Collaboration since 1987, since 1995 online
 CENL : Conference of European
National Librarians (directors of NLs)
 Mission of CENL: reinforce role of national libraries in Europe
 Latest collaborative project is The European Library
National libraries in European context
 National library  British Library, LoC
 47 official national libraries – 45 countries
(Council of Europe)
1. National libraries in
Europe

5. 1. National libraries in Europe
2. The European Library
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Common standards
3. Ingredients for successful European Digital
Library
Structure of presentation

6. 2.1 Introduction
2.2 The European Library relies on common standards
 A. Access protocols
 B. Metadata
 C. Collection descriptions
 D. Multi-linguality
2. The European Library

7. TheEuropeanLibrary.org =
- service of all 47 European national libraries
- to provide access to their
- catalogues & digital collections
- via 1 central multi-lingual web interface
- (= portal)
What is The European Library?
2.1 Introduction to The European Library

8. www.TheEuropeanLibrary.org

9. Background
 Origin in 2001: TELproject: 2.5y feasibility study funded by EU
and led by The British Library
 Intended to create operational service from start, so business
plan was part of TELproject
 The European Library is live since 17 March 2005 (beta)
 Currently owned by CENL, funded by the national libraries
(NOT EU)
 Development + maintenance by The European Library Office
(Netherlands – 9 FTE)
2.1 Introduction to The European Library

10. Two types of participants
 Full Participants : libraries whose catalogues and
digital collections are included in The European
Library portal (23)
 Basic Participants : catalogues and digital collections
not yet included (24)
2.1 Introduction to The European Library

11. Current + future Full Participants
 Now : 250+ collections from 23 national libraries:
Austria, UK, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France,
Germany, Italy(2x), Latvia, Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia,
Slovenia, Switzerland, Poland, Cyprus, Malta, Lithuania,
Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia
 End 2007 : 330 collections from 34 libraries
Spain, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Greece,
Iceland, Ireland, Belgium, Bulgaria & Roumenia
 Mid 2009 : 400 collections from 44 libraries
Russia (2x), former Sovjet republics, Albania, Bosnia…..
2.1 Introduction to The European Library

12. What’s Good about The European Library
For end-users
 Have integrated access to catalogues & digital collections
of national libraries of Europe
 Quality-controlled deep web resources
 250+ collections, 2.0M digital objects and 50M metadata
records
For the national libraries
 International showcase for collections
 Wider access to their collections & content
 Combined political mass  greater marketing and
negotiation power.
 Platform for collaboration
2.1 Introduction to The European Library

13. 2.1 Introduction
2.2 The European Library relies on common standards
 A. Access protocols
 B. Metadata
 C. Collection descriptions
 D. Multi-linguality
2. The European Library

14. The European Library = hybrid portal = federated search tool
 Overall goal of The European Library = COLLABORATION
 Low implementation barrier for libraries is key!!
 Different libraries demand different access protocols to access their
collections
 TEL infrastructure uses 4 protocols :
OAI-PMH, Z39.50, SRU, OpenURL
 The European Library portal queries
 1 central index (90 harvested collections, OAI-PMH)
 160 remote databases (Z39.50 & SRU)
2.2.A Access protocols in The European
Library

15. Techniques / protocols used (I)
1. OAI-PMH (Open Archives Initiative Protocol for
Metadata Harvesting)
 OAI enabled collections have their
metadata harvested, indexed and stored
in TEL central index
 Queries in these collections are queries
in TEL central index
2.2.A Access protocols in The European
Library

16. Harvesting via OAI-PMH
TEL server(s)
OAI-PMH
collection
TEL central index
(90 coll.) OAI-PMH
harvester
OAI-PMH
collection
OAI-PMH
collection

17. TEL server(s)
TEL central index
OAI-PMH
OAI-PMH
collection
OAI-PMH
collection
OAI-PMH
collection
Harvesting via OAI-PMH

18. 2. SRU (Search Retrieve via Url)
SRU enabled collections are queried on-the-fly using this protocol
 Direct communication with TEL-portal
3. Z39.50
Z39.50 enabled collections are queried on-the-fly via a
Z39.50/SRU gateway
Z39.50/SRU gateway = translator (housed on TEL server)
• Translates SRU requests to Z39.50 session vv.
• Translates TEL portal search language (CQL) into search
language of Z39.50 target.
• Converts record format of Z39.50 target into TEL metadata
format
• Does character set conversions (Unicode)
2.2.A Access protocols in The European
Library
Techniques / protocols used (II)

19. 4. OpenURL
for linking to external webservices
2.2.A Access protocols in The European
Library
Techniques / protocols used (III)

20. Loading the TEL-portal
TEL server(s)
central index
web server
http://www.theeuropeanlibrary.org
TEL portal only
speaks &
understands SRU

21. Loading translations and collections (I)
TEL server(s)
central index
web server
http://www.theeuropeanlibrary.org

22. Loading translations and collections (II)
 translations.xml : all translations
needed to display the interface in
the chosen language (20)
 collections.xml : all collection
descriptions needed to execute
searches across the different
collections
translations.xml collections.xml
SRU Z39.50

23. A. Search/retrieve in TEL central index via SRU
TEL server(s)
web server
query
OAI-harvested metadata
= TEL central
index SRUSRU
TEL portal only
speaks &
understands SRU

24. B. Search/retrieve in SRU enabled remote
collection
TEL server(s)
web server
query
central index
SRU
SRU
TEL portal only
speaks &
understands SRU

25. TEL server(s)
web server
query
central index
SRU
Z39.50/SRU
gateway SRU Z39.50
TEL portal only
speaks &
understands SRU
C. Search/retrieve in Z39.50 enabled remote
collection

26. Search/retrieve – all at once!
TEL server(s)
web server
query
central index
SRU
SRU
Z39.50/SRU
gateway SRU Z39.50
SRU

27. 2.1 Introduction
2.2 The European Library relies on common standards
 A. Access protocols
 B. Metadata
 C. Collection descriptions
 D. Multi-linguality
2. The European Library

28. All 50M records in The European Library are in
same metadata format!!
 Metadata  TEL Application Profile for objects
Basis = Dublin Core
+ Expanded with elements from other metadata sets
+ Custom TEL elements
 Mappings from MARC to TEL Application Profile
 Metadata elements  functionality in TEL portal
2.2.B Metadata in The European Library

30. More info about TEL Application Profile
for objects
The European Library Handbook
 www.theeuropeanlibrary.org/handbook
2.2.B Metadata in The European Library

31. The European Library Handbook
www.theeuropeanlibrary.org/handbook

33. 2.1 Introduction
2.2 The European Library relies on common standards
 A. Access protocols
 B. Metadata
 C. Collection descriptions
 D. Multi-linguality
2. The European Library

34. All 250+ collection descriptions in The
European Library are in same format!!
 Collection descriptions  TEL Application Profile for collections
Basis = Dublin Core
+ Expanded with elements from other metadata sets
+ Custom TEL elements
 XML files describing each collection (name, content etc)
 Each collection description translated in 20 languages
 Helps users to select collections they want to search in
2.2.C Collection descriptions in The
European Library

36. More info about TEL Application Profile
for collections
The European Library Handbook
 www.theeuropeanlibrary.org/handbook
2.2.C Collection descriptions in The
European Library

37. The European Library Handbook
www.theeuropeanlibrary.org/handbook

39. 2.1 Introduction
2.2 The European Library relies on common standards
 A. Access protocols
 B. Metadata
 C. Collection descriptions
 D. Multi-linguality
2. The European Library

40. Multi-lingual access
1. Portal interface in 20 languages : done!
2. Portal help texts in 20 languages : done!
3. Collection descriptions in 20 languages : done!
Multi-lingual search & retrieve
1. Subject headings / controlled vocabularies : pilot underway 
prototype 2008
2. Free text / uncontrolled vocabularies : major challenge!!
2.2.D Multi-linguality in The European
Library

41. Portal interface in 20 languages : English
2.2.D Multi-lingual access in The European
Library

42. Portal interface in 20 languages : Danish
2.2.D Multi-lingual access in The European
Library

43. Portal interface in 20 languages : Greek
2.2.D Multi-lingual access in The European
Library

44. Portal helptexts in 20 languages : English
2.2.D Multi-lingual access in The European
Library

45. Portal helptexts in 20 languages : Estonian
2.2.D Multi-lingual access in The European
Library

46. Collection descriptions in English
2.2.D Multi-lingual access in The European
Library

47. Collection descriptions in Maltese
2.2.D Multi-lingual access in The European
Library

48. 1. National libraries in Europe
2. The European Library
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Common standards
3. Ingredients for successful
European Digital Library
Structure of presentation

49. European Digital
Library =
- yet to be built
- pan-European
- multi-lingual portal
- giving access to digital
cultural heritage
- from European libraries
AND museums &
archives
3. Ingredients for a successful European
Digital Library
The European
Library =
- operational
- pan-European
- multi-lingual portal
- giving access to digital
cultural heritage
- from European
libraries only

50.  December 2004 : Google announces its Google Print initiative
(digitse 4 major US libraries + Oxford UK)
 January 2005: comments by Jean-Noël Jeanneney (president
BnF) : Anglo-American dominance
 Large press coverage: “Europe’s cultural war with Google”
 French call for safeguarding the European cultural heritage:
Backing from the leaders of six countries and 24 national
libraries (CENL)
 EU 2005 : “Creation of a European Digital Library is a strategic
priority“
Short historical context
3. Ingredients for a successful European
Digital Library

51. EU 2006 : “The European Library is a good starting point for a
European Digital Library”
Timeline & Vision of the EU
3. Ingredients for a successful European
Digital Library

52. Towards a European Digital Library

53. Why is The European Library a good starting
point for a European Digital Library?
The European Library already has already created
 Operational technological platform (portal)
 Based on common open standards for metadata &
access
 Firm cooperative organisational framework (CENL
- 20 years)
3. Ingredients for a successful European
Digital Library

54. BUT…
A successful European Digital
Library needs more ingredients ……
Look at 7 of them…. challenges
3. Ingredients for a successful European
Digital Library

55. Challenge 1
Mass-digitisation of as many materials as
possible
Challenge 2
Long-time digital preservation of these digitised
materials
3. Ingredients for a successful European
Digital LibraryChallenges to tackle (1,2)

56. Mass-digitisation & preservation
Problem
 Only 4% of content in The European Library are digital objects
 Even lower %-tage is digitally preserved
Solutions
 Mass-digitisation & preservation programmes  Europe-wide network of
centres of competence
Hurdles
1. Organisational : create synergies, avoid duplication of effort, create public-
private collaboration.
2. Content selection : choose from 1000s kms of printed materials; Ms hours of
film
3. Technical : lower costs for digitisation & preservation while maintaining a
high quality.
4. Legal : deal with the copyright issues
3. Ingredients for a successful European
Digital LibraryChallenges to tackle (1,2)

57. Challenge 3
More partners, esp. museums, archives, AV
Challenge 4
Multilingual search & retrieval facilities
 Searching in German, finding texts in Spanish
 Start with controlled vocabularies (subject headings), uncontrolled
vocabularies/free texts will be next step.
Challenge 5
OAI + central index : prefer OAI-PMH + central index over Z39.50 or SRU
remote collections
- speed
- sorting
- ranking
- de-duplication
- virtual collections
3. Ingredients for a successful European
Digital LibraryChallenges to tackle (3,4,5)

58. Challenge 6
Organisational models
Ownership / governance
Funding models
Sustainability
Challenge 7
Copyright issues, publishers
 All of these challenges are addressed in a series of EU co-funded
projects 2007-2011
3. Ingredients for a successful European
Digital LibraryChallenges to tackle (6,7)

59. Summary
 Common and open standards for access and
interoperability are essential for a European Digital
Library
 The European Library is the forerunner
 Building a European Digital Library is a much a
political & social game as it is a technological
 Willingness to collaborate is key!!
3. Ingredients for a successful European
Digital Library

60. www.TheEuropeanLibrary.org
olaf.janssen@kb.nl