Aggregators are the backbone of content supply to Europeana, the pan-European digital cultural heritage initiative, connecting and promoting Europeana to their networks and communities. In this presentation, I illustrate how aggregators for digital cultural heritage work and how they are organised in the Europeana Aggregators Forum.
Burning Issue presentation of Zhazgul N. , Cycle 54
Aggregators for Digital Cultural Heritage in Europe
1. Colour vision, Paul Grigg, Wellcome Collection, United Kingdom, CC BY
Aggregators for Digital
Cultural Heritage in Europe
Europeana 2019 conference
Marco Rendina
Chair of the Europeana Aggregators Forum
4. Aggregators for Digital
Cultural Heritage
● Who we are and what we do
● Our goals
● What we offer
● National and Domain/thematic aggregators
ÖK:s mannekänguppvisning. 4 april 1955, Örebro Kuriren, Örebro läns museum, Sweden, Public domain
5. Who we are and what we do
A Pan-European network
A Europe-wide network of national, regional, domain and thematic
aggregators, enabling cultural institutions to share their collections online on
Europeana and open it up to new audiences
Connecting content and people
Aggregators work with cultural institutions and collectors to gather authentic,
trustworthy and robust data and make it accessible to Europeana, education
clouds, research infrastructures, creatives, developers and the general public.
6. Who we are and what we do
12 pan-European
thematic and domain
aggregators.
25 national and
regional aggregators,
gathering content
from cultural
institutions across
Europe.
Aggregators work
with thousands of
museums, galleries,
libraries, archives,
audiovisual archives,
collectors and
communities.
Aggregators offer
advice and support in
digitisation, content
description, licensing,
media formats
accessibility,
multilingualism and in
domain and subject
vocabularies.
Network Culture partners Expertise
Aggregators are the backbone of content supply to Europeana, connecting and
promoting Europeana to their networks and communities.
7. Who we are and what we do
Member States and
regional authorities
are the main funders
of national and
regional aggregators.
The domain and
thematic aggregators
are co-funded by their
members and the EU.
Aggregators supply
around 90% of all
content in Europeana.
47+ million items
including digital
images, texts, videos,
sounds and 3D objects
from Europe’s diverse
cultural heritage.
Aggregators are agents
of change, encouraging
investments in new
technologies and
digital skills, and
contributing to
digitization strategies
at national and
European levels.
Finance Content base Impact
8. Our goals
• Aggregators are catalysts for digital transformation in
cultural institutions.
• Aggregators support thousands of cultural heritage
institutions and their communities to build Digital Europe.
• Aggregators foster digital culture, promote open
standards and encourage the free flow of data across
borders for re-use in applications for education, tourism
and leisure.
9. What we offer
Aggregators use
standards,
vocabularies and linked
data and promote their
use by cultural
institutions offering
case studies and
translations to ease
their uptake
Aggregators
contribute actively to
the development of
international and
national domain and
subjects standards
Aggregators work
actively to improve
and enrich data and
content, promote
international
recommendations for
best practices in
digital culture and
support to cultural
heritage professionals
Technology Standards Quality
Aggregators provide
tools, services and
infrastructures (data
repositories, cloud
storage, metadata
harvesting, metadata
mapping, enrichment
services, APIs and
portals)
Helpdesks are
available for cultural
institutions
10. What we offer
Aggregators are well
placed to reach out to
institutions,
communities and
enthusiasts to develop
metadata strategies
that connect objects
and collections to
audiences, bridging
generation and
perspective gaps
between cultural
heritage content,
professionals and
Europeana users
More than 10
thematic collections
launched on
Europeana, based on
content provided by
aggregators.
Active role in raising
awareness of
Europeana amongst
European citizens.
100% of content
carries a rights label.
Digital Europe Inclusion Highlights
Aggregators’
infrastructure
supports connectivity
and makes cultural
data interoperable
with portals,
education clouds,
research
infrastructures,
Europeana and other
users.
11. Domain and thematic aggregators
• 12 Pan-European networks built around a specific
heritage domain
• operate as digital cultural heritage Expert hubs offering
specialist support to CHIs across Europe
• main partners in the Europeana DSI core service
• main driver behind the Europeana thematic collections
• rely on EU funding and membership fees
12. National and regional aggregators
• 25 institutions operating at a national/regional level in 21
Member States plus Serbia
• maintaining a cross-domain or domain specific national
aggregation infrastructures
• collaborate to the Europeana initiative bringing CHIs’ rich
content from a national and local level to Europeana
• rely on national and local funding
13. The Europeana
Aggregators Forum
● About the EAF
● The new EAF (why and how)
● Benefits of being a member
● Responsibilities
● Accreditation process
ÖK:s mannekänguppvisning. 4 april 1955, Örebro Kuriren, Örebro läns museum, Sweden, Public domain
14. Title here
CC BY-SA
Europeana Aggregators
CC BY-SA
About the Europeana Aggregators Forum
• Established in 2012
• Members: National and
pan-European domain and thematic
aggregators
Purpose
• Exchange ideas, knowledge,
experiences and best practices
• Foster closer working relationships
and two-way communication
between members
Meetings
• Twice a year organised and hosted by
an aggregator or the EF Office
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Europeana Aggregators
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WHY a new EAF
• To place the community of aggregators at the
centre
• To give increased recognition for organisations
aggregating Europe’s cultural heritage
• Joint mission: Improve access to culture
• Working on standards and frameworks
• Bringing people & organisations together
• To have the opportunity to function as an
instrument to influence political action on
cultural heritage
The new Europeana Aggregators Forum
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Europeana Aggregators
CC BY-SA
HOW a
• Firming up the scope of the Forum
• Establishing a light organisational
structure
• Improving visibility and recognition
for the community
The new Europeana Aggregators Forum
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CC BY-SA
Europeana Aggregators
CC BY-SA
Scope
The purpose of the Aggregator Forum is to coordinate all activities required for the
effective functioning of a pan-European aggregation ecosystem both at operational and
at strategic level.
● OPERATIONAL LEVEL
○ Forum to ensure development and uptake of standards and frameworks and
training programmes. Sharing also best practice, tools, etc.
● STRATEGIC LEVEL
○ Forum to function as advocacy body for Europe’s national, domain and thematic
aggregators
○ Forum to coordinate with EF on how to reach the aggregation goals
○ Forum and EF to take joint responsibility for the mission of aggregation
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Europeana Aggregators
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Establishing an organisation structure
EAF Steering Group
Chair
✔ Responsible for setting the agenda in collaboration with members of the Steering
Group
✔ Chair meetings, ensure participation of relevant member(s)
✔ Function as ENA/MC liaison after each EAF Meeting or when specific issues for
discussion points occur
Vice-Chair
✔ Shared responsibilities with Chair
EF Representative
✔ Ensure alignment with EF strategy and development
✔ Ensure visibility of the role of the aggregators on Europeana Pro
✔ Organise logistically EAF meeting in collaboration with hosting organisation
✔ Act as liaison between the EAF and the Europeana DSI project
19. Title here
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Europeana Aggregators
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Improving visibility and recognition
HOW a
• Promote outputs and activities of the Forum
o Case studies and recommendations
o Standardised Training Programme
o Train the trainer workshops
• Ensure visibility for Europe’s cultural heritage aggregation
ecosystem
o Use Europeana Pro to feature aggregators’ role and
expertise
o Aggregators Factsheet
• Raise awareness of the Aggregators’ role in the Europeana
initiative at the EC and Members States level
20. Benefits
• EAF membership (access to EAF meetings and EAF
Basecamp)
• Vote in decisions taken by the EAF
• Aggregator profile on Pro
• Representatives of the Europeana initiative
• Use EAF logo (trusted partner)
21. Responsibilities
• Provide content to Europeana
• Clear scope
• Help and support for CHIs
• Sufficient capacity
• Exit or transition plan
• Active participation in EAF
• Collaborate with EF and other aggregators
22. Accreditation Process
• Candidate fills application form and commits to
responsibilities
• EAF SG pre-evaluates the application
• Candidate submits test data successfully & sign DEA
• Candidate is invited to present at EAF meeting
• EAF members ratify the accreditation
• Candidate receives the Accreditation letter
24. Full index of accredited
aggregators with
complete info and
contacts details
Europeana Pro
25. Europa [Material cartográfico] : Nach den vorzüglichsten Hülfsnitteln, Götze, Johann August Ferdinand, 1773-1819 Biblioteca Digital de Madrid Spain, Public domain
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