Digital Libraries Initiative :: Timeline

Timeline of development

2012

At its meeting on 10 May 2012, the Education, Youth and Culture (EYC) Council adopted conclusions on the digitisation and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation on the basis of the Commission's Recommendation of 27 October 2011.

In its conclusions, the Council invites the Member States to

· Consolidate their strategies and targets for the digitisation of cultural material;

· Consolidate the organisation of and provision of funding for digitisation, promoting public-private partnerships;

· Improve the framework conditions for the online accessibility and use of cultural material;

· Contribute to the further development of Europeana, the Europeana Digital Library and

· To ensure long-term digital preservation.

In the Annex to its conclusions, the Council sets out a number of priority actions as well as an indicative timetable for work by the Member States in the years 2012-2015 in order to achieve these objectives.

2011

27 October 2011 - Commission Recommendation on the digitisation and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation - Commission Staff Working Paper.
10 January 2011 - "Comité des Sages" on bringing Europe's cultural heritage online presents its report "The new Renaissance": See the Report (EN)

2010

10 May 2010 -The Council adopted Conclusions outlining the next step for Europeana - the European digital library. Member States agreed to continue and strengthen their support for Europeana and the digitisation projects carried out by their cultural institutions, in order to increase the number of objects from libraries, museums, archives and audiovisual collections accessible through the Europeana service. See the press releases.
5 May 2010 - The European Parliament adopted a Resolution on "Europeana - Next Steps" joining the Commission in asking EU Member States to step up their efforts to make their cultural heritage available through the European Digital Library.

2009

28 August 2009 – The Commission adopted the Communication "Europeana - next steps" ; The accompanying Staff Working Document EN; looks ahead to the next phase of development of Europeana and its direction for the future.

2008

20 November 2008 - The European Digital Library - Europeana - was launched in the presence of José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Christine Albanel, French Minister of Culture and Communication, Cultural Ministers from other Member States and representatives of European cultural institutions, in Brussels, Belgium. See the Press release
20 November 2008 - Council conclusions on the European digital library EUROPEANA
11 August 2008 - The Commission adopted a Communication on Europe’s cultural heritage at the click of a mouse - Progress on the digitisation and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation across the EU
23-24 June 2008 – Presentation and testing of the first version of the Europeana prototype at a stakeholders' conference in The Hague.
13 February 2008 – Adoption of the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on 'Promoting broad public access to the European digital library'.
1 February 2008 - Presentation of the first static model of Europeana at a conference in Frankfurt.
Report - The problem of Orphan Works in the EU

2007

22-23 November 2007 - The Council invites the Member States and the Commission to work together at European level on the accessibility and preservation of scientific information.
8 November 2007- Creation of the European Digital Library Foundation which formalises the agreement of European archives, museums, audiovisual archives and libraries to work together and to provide a common access point to Europe's cultural heritage online.
27 September 2007 - The European Parliament (EP) adopts a resolution on 'i2010: towards a European digital library'.
14 February 2007 - The Commission adopts a Communication on scientific information in the digital age.

2006

13 November 2006 - The Council of the European Union adopts Council conclusions on the Digitisation and Online Accessibility of Cultural Material and Digital Preservation.
24 August 2006 - The European Commission adopts a Recommendation on the digitisation and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation. For more information on the Recommendation consult the Recommendation pages.
15 June 2006 – Adoption of the opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Digital Libraries Initiative.
27 February 2006 – A High Level Expert Group on Digital Libraries is set up by a European Commission decision. For more information consult the High Level Expert Group pages.

2005

30 September 2005 - The Commission adopts a Communication "i2010: Digital Libraries" which outlines the vision underlying the digital libraries initiative and deals with Europe’s cultural heritage.
7 July 2005 - Mr José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, replies to the letter from 6 Heads of State and Government and welcomes the digital libraries initiative.
28 April 2005 - Six Heads of State and Government advocate the creation of a virtual European library, aiming to make Europe’s cultural and scientific record accessible for all. See the letter to the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and to the European Commission.