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By Klaus Reinhardt - October 2000
Klaus Reinhardt reports on the establishment of a new network in the field of cultural heritage applications under the 5th Framework Programme (IST Programme), the new “anchor” for libraries, archives and museums. This is an updated version of an article published in Exploit Interactive, issue 4. [1]
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Under the 3rd and 4th Framework Programme a network of National Focal Points (NFPs) was established in all EU Member States and most of the associated states as part of the Telematics for Libraries Programme. In the 5th Framework Programme the structure has changed. The “old” Telematics Programme is part of the Information Society Technology Programme (IST) and there is no longer a “libraries area”. The only place you can find the word “libraries” (together with archives and museums) in the IST Programme is in Digital Heritage and Cultural Content, a sub area of Key Action III: Multimedia Content and Tools.
CULTIVATE is an answer to the need for a newly structured network supporting the co-operation of archives, libraries and museums under the 5th Framework Programme. It is a pan-European network for the Digital Heritage Community including IT staff, information professionals, researchers, managers, policy makers, galleries, non-profit making organisations etc. This network will have two sub-sections: one for the western part of Europe and another for the 10 accession countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The western part of CULTIVATE begun in February 2000 for a period of 36 months. The eastern part is expected to follow at the beginning of next year. Both activities were planned together and will work in a close co-operation.
CULTIVATE has established to date a European Digital Cultural Heritage Network consisting of 15 partners based in 12 European countries. In addition there are also National Nodes in Denmark, Holland, Iceland and Israel who are associated partners. Russia is planning to become another associated partner. This network will continue the successful and fruitful work carried out by the National Focal Points for the Telematics for Libraries Programme under the 3rd and 4th Framework Programme and will expand to include all memory institutions, namely archives, museums and galleries.
The network intends:
All activities will either be carried out together or shared fairly between all participating partners and countries.
Details of the consortium members are given in the following table.
| Participant name | Participant short name | Country | Status* |
| Ehem. Deutsches Bibliotheksinstiut | EDBI | DE | C |
| The Library Council | CL | IE | P |
| Institute for Learning and Teaching Research Technology, University of Bristol (third partner assistance to CL) | ILRT | UK | A |
| Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries | Resource | UK | P |
| University of Bath / UK Office for Library and Information Networking | UKOLN | UK | P |
| Cultural Service Centre Austria | CSC Austria | AT | P |
| Riksbibliotektjenesten | RBT | NO | P |
| Biblioteca Nacional | BN | ES | P |
| Osservatorio dei programmi internazionali per le biblioteche | OPIB | IT | P |
| Fundo de Fomento Cultural / Conselho Superior de Bibliotecas | FFC | PT | P |
| Kungl.biblioteket | KB | SE | P |
| University of Helsinki / Helsinki University Library | HUL | FI | P |
| Federal Office for Scientific, Technical and Cultural Affairs | OSTC | BE | P |
| Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs | MINERA | GR | P |
| Subdireccion General de los Archivos Estatales | SGAE | ES | P |
| Subdireccion General de los Museos Estatales | SGME | ES | P |
*C = Co-ordinator
P = Principal contractor
A = Assistant contractor
The national digital cultural heritage networks with representatives from all relevant memory institutions and organisations (in particular from archives, libraries and museums) in each participating country are now established and in working condition. These national networks are interlinked by a common gateway. The dissemination of information is supported by an electronic information service at European level and by the production of sector specific information material in printed and electronic form. The Cultivate Interactive magazine is online to reflect the state-of-the art of cultural heritage applications in Europe as well as to present and to discuss the results achieved. Activities linking European cultural heritage policy and directives to administrative and professional bodies at national level will bridge the gap between the thematic work on European and on national level. All National Nodes are responsible for (EU non-costed) sector specific information days and consultancy tasks for (potential) proposers. An essential part of the measure is a close co-operation between the National Nodes of Western European countries participating in the CULTIVATE-EU consortium and institutions of the 10 CEE accession countries.
The working structure of the accompanying measure guarantees a truly European dimension. The co-ordinating partner is the German Libraries Institute, Berlin (EDBI) and the National Node for Germany, who has already co-ordinated the accompanying measure EXPLOIT under the Telematics for Libraries Programme. All the other partners (excluding UKOLN, UK Office for Library and Information Networking) are the National Nodes for Cultural Heritage Applications in their respective countries and will act as focal point for their related national network: They will also be active in sharing European co-operation. Some of the National Nodes are also the leading partners for other tasks of a European dimension.
The information work is being carried out in the form of six tasks:
A WWW server, which provides links to all national Web pages, has been establishment and is being operated at a European level by the Library Council, Ireland (CL) and the Institute for Learning and Research Technology, University of Bristol UK (ILRT)
One of the most important functions of CULTIVATE is to disseminate information through the CULTIVATE Web site which was launched on July 3rd, 2000 [2]. The main objectives of the Web site are to promote the cultural heritage activities of the Information Society Technologies Programme, (IST) and to disseminate project results. The Web site provides a searchable main site with the additional functionality of cross searching the National Node Web sites and the Web magazine, Cultivate Interactive.
The content of the CULTIVATE Web site includes:
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| Figure 1: CULTIVATE Web Site |
An electronic information service and discussion list at European level is being provided by Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, UK. The Cultivate-list is the e-list for anyone in interested in digital heritage in the IST Programme [3]. It is an open list for discussion and information sharing, the cultivate-list topics include:
The Cultivate-list is administered by the UK National Node, with technical support from UKOLN at the University of Bath. For further information contact Rosalind Johnson, the UK node. [4]
An electronic magazine, produced by UK Office for Library and Information Networking, University of Bath, UK (UKOLN) provides a forum for dissemination and discussion of project results and topics of more general interest for others working in the area of cultural heritage applications. UKOLN already runs the E-Journal Ariadne [5] as well as the Web magazine Exploit Interactive [6].
Cultivate Interactive is a new pan-European Web magazine that forms part of the CULTIVATE network activities. It aims to provide a forum for users to find out more about the Digital Heritage and Cultural Content (DIGICULT) area of the European Commission's Information Society Technologies (IST) Programme, about other EC and non-EC programmes in that area and also about the results of projects. Articles will address the challenges facing the projects and allow the reader to provide feedback or partake in discussions on related issues. Cultivate Interactive provides a valuable opportunity for DIGICULT project holders to disseminate information about their work.
Those interested in writing for Cultivate Interactive should contact the editor [7].
Cultural Service Center, Austria (CSC) are highly information technology literate and are responsible for the development and agreement of standardisation issues for the electronic information services used by project members.
The production of information material from the European Community and national organisations either in printed or electronic form is supported by an XML database, which enables the management of metadata related to the documents. The information on the documents is added using the 15 Dublin Core metadata description fields.
The data is then exported in XML and put through a unified production process. Using XSL-stylesheets for printed and electronic documents supports the production of standard pieces of information to be used for dissemination by all the nodes and by all the other information dissemination services at European level. For public search purposes this standardised information means a fast and easy retrieval of documents located on the Internet or any local server.
The Cultivate Document Server is hosted by Cultural Service Center, Austria, Graz. It can be accessed from the Cultivate International Homepage (Documents) or from the national homepages [8].
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| Figure 2: CULTIVATE Document Server |
A system for policy dissemination in the area of cultural heritage applications is being established and operated by National Office for Research Documentation, Academic and Special Libraries, Norway (RBT) [9] This system links administrative and professional bodies in the EU member states and associated states at national and international level.
The aim is to conduct a survey asking for central bodies in archives, libraries and museums in all the participating countries, and at European and international level. The outcome will be a guide to governmental institutions, as well as national, European and international organisations and associations. It will be used for dissemination of information about possibilities and results in the IST-Programme and act as a help for finding relevant contact points (or partners) in other European countries.
All the partners are involved in this task at national level. RBT is the lead contractor.
Each country participating in the CULTIVATE network at European level has a National Node as head and co-ordinator of their national network in the archives, libraries and museums sector [10].
The National Nodes aim to
Each National Node
<http://www.nat.cultivate-eu.org>
e.g. <http://www.uk.cultivate-eu.org>
CULTIVATE follows the path started on by the National Focal Points and the accompanying measure EXPLOIT under the Telematics for Libraries Programme. The National Nodes offer a wide range of support for proposers in the IST Programme area of digital heritage and cultural content. Additionally there are several services provided at European level. The activities at national and European level are interconnected and feed the different needs of people interested in the area.
with
this text in the body of the message: subscribe cultivate-list
(your email address).
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Klaus Reinhardt
Ehem. Deutsches Bibliotheksinstitut
German Libraries Institute Berlin
Head of International Libraries Co-operation Unit
Kurt-Schumacher-Damm 12-16
13405 Berlin
Germany
reinhardt@dbi-berlin.de
<http://www.dbi-berlin.de/bib_wes/dbi_euro/eurohome.htm>
Klaus Reinhardt is the co-ordinator of the accompanying measures EXPLOIT and CULTIVATE-EU. He was the secretary of the National Focal Point Germany under the Telematics for Libraries Programme and member of the EU working party Education and Training, Libraries, Research in the Telematics Applications Programme. He is now also the secretary of the German node in CULTIVATE and member of the new EU National Expert Group for key action III of the IST Programme (Interactive Publishing; Digital Content and Cultural Heritage; Education and Training; Human Language Technologies; Information Access, Filtering, Analysis and Handling).
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For citation purposes:
Reinhardt, K. "CULTIVATE - A New Network for Digital Cultural Heritage in Europe", Cultivate Interactive, issue
2, 16 October 2000
URL: <http://www.cultivate-int.org/issue2/cultivate/>
Date of Article: 16 October 2000
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