[In cooperation with:]   

[Supported by:]   

Thursday, 21 June 2007

DIGITISING CULTURE IN GERMANY
FROM DIGITAL PROJECTS TO DIGITAL COLLECTIONS

Our first session will consider issues essential to the generation of new knowledge through networking. The first session will also present several German digitisation initiatives. Among these initiatives is www.kulturerbe-digital.de, an information platform lending impetus to the creation of knowledge networks and enhancing cooperation among German cultural organisations. Finally, we will take stock of ongoing efforts to create a national portal to all digital collections held by German cultural organisations.

DIGITISING CULTURE IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
MERGING DIGITAL COLLECTIONS

The second session will examine questions of special relevance to those engaged in creating a common European digital network. It will do so through exploration of projects from several European nations. Among the issues to explore are synergy effects, national versus European digitisation projects, the use and reuse of object data standards and object data software as well as the successful integration of smaller, or less well known, collections in larger digital networking initiatives.

Short Contributions

Friday, 22 June 2007

DIGITISING CULTURE FOR ALL EUROPEANS
NETWORKING EUROPE'S KNOWLEDGE

A third focus is European digitisation initiatives and projects. Our topic in this context will be the challenges and opportunities presented by efforts to offer multilingual access to digital sources across Europe. The multilingual portal, MICHAEL-culture.org, will receive special attention. MICHAEL offers access to the heterogeneous objects of Europe's diverse digital cultural heritage, transcending genre-specific definitions. Finally, we will also discuss the current state of affairs vis-à-vis the European Digital Library project.

DIGITISING CULTURE MORE EFFECTIVELY
LEARNING FROM ACADEMICS

Among scholars, especially in the natural sciences, the exchange of research results and sources in international collaborative ventures is established practice. In our concluding session we will draw upon the experiences of scholars, exploring how the linking of diverse collections of information generates new forms of knowledge. To pursue matters further, we will ask which types of knowledge can only arise through the linking of sources. This topic shall serve as the prelude to our concluding discussion. The building of networks across national boundaries will be our concern, a topic that will lead us to consider future common digitisation strategies across - and beyond - Europe.