Abstract

On November 20, 2018, it was ten years since Europeana was born. This note summarizes the impact of Europeana and the Spanish contribution to Europeana. Europeana Data Model and related recommendations are valued as the first significant and lasting construction of a European standard for archives, libraries and museums. It is also pointed out Europeana’s weakest point: its search interface. All figures and web addresses in the note refer to the date November 20, 2018.

Abstract

The advancing Bibliographic Framework Initiative (BIBFRAME) is described, emphasizing that with the publication of the minutes of the MARBI Midsummer meeting on 2013 this committee was officially dissolved. MARBI has been operative for 30 years. It is noteworthy that at the same meeting the MARC Advisory Committee (MAC) was created with the aim of continuing the maintenance of the MARC 21 format, but also fostering the development of BIBFRAME, as MARBI had done so far. This factre presents a hiatus in cataloguing. Resource: Description and Access has already entered into production, as well as the development of Europeana Data Model and its adoption by various international projects, most notably the Digital Public Library of America. Finally, we examine whether these important processes are objectively having any impact on the Spanish libraries.

Abstract

The Spanish city of Burgos hosted the VI National congress of public libraries and the Europeana conference, October 9-11, 2012. The events shared venues and registrants under the theme of "Public library: individual memory, global heritage". Building the European memory requires the involvement of citizens and Europeana is working hard to achieve it. The difficulties encountered by public libraries attempting to become involved in the project are described, pointing out some of the things they can do to integrate local memory into the larger repositories.

Abstract

The Europeana project progress is presented, emphasizing its importance among other strategies of the European Commission. In 2011 important recommendations and standards were published that clarify the future development of Europeana. Documents produced by the W3C are highlighted and Spanish contributions, particularly from Hispana, are listed. The collaboration between Europeana and the Digital Public Library of America is mentioned. Finally, the differences between various concepts like open access, open data and open source are explained.

Abstract

The reuse of data by public administration in Spain is growing significantly thanks to Plan Avanza 2. But the growth rate is not the same in the case of cultural institutions. The three key issues that delay the release of cultural data are described: the need for adequate metrics for measuring the business generated when data become open, the possibility of losing the attribution, and potential income loss. The most emblematic cultural data release projects are described, and the problems they have faced are identified.

Abstract

The most important events of 2009 in the world of libraries are noted. There are three main areas: technology, information and libraries themselves. The first area includes the development of integrated library management systems and the situation of the so-called discovery tools. In the information area, major developments in digitization of content are discussed, focusing on Google Books and Europeana and mentioning the impact of economic crisis on a library’s ability to purchase information. Regarding libraries in general, 2009 highlights were Oclc internationalization and the new roles that libraries can assume in an environment that blurs their duties. Finally, challenges for libraries in 2010 are identified: to continue incorporating electronic information, keep adjusting to a changing environment, and find a way to create an alliance that would include files, libraries and museums.

Abstract

This report highlights the most important recent activity in the field of semantic web, analyzing the most innovative aspects of the new RDF 1.1 recommendation, and discussing the first public working draft of Data on the web best practices. The evolution of semantic markup is analyzed, both from the point of view of standards and the practical applications on the Web. Wikipedia is identified as a dynamic factor in the semantic web, especially through the DBpedia and WikiData initiatives. Europeana and the Digital Public Library of America are clear references in the description of networked digital resources.

Abstract

The internet has facilitated the creation of large collections of documents by the aggregation of documents sent from different suppliers. Europeana is an example. In general, these documents have been identified using different thesauri and, at the same time, different languages. There are no systems that help the user to consult these documents using natural language, and also in their own language. Europeana has set up a prototype of a semantic search engine. In this text we analyze its structure and functioning. The conclusion, however, is that this is a very experimental version.

Abstract

Since its launch several years ago, Europeana has continued to improve the quantity and quality of its content, attempting to offer new services and differentiate itself from the more popular search engines. The Assets  project has contributed to this goal by developing innovative content-based search technologies and services, improving existing functionality, and designing more user-friendly interfaces. This paper describes in detail some of the new services that were implemented in a replica of the Europeana website. A user evaluation process was conducted in several European countries, with a total of 51 usability tests performed. The results reveal the benefits and drawbacks of the portal. The identified problems were systematically prioritized. In the final phase of the project, a redesign resolved 74% of all usability incidents. The result is a number of features that enhance the original Europeana portal, giving the user more and better search tools.