The number of digitised books, maps, photographs, film clips and newspapers available in Europeana, Europe's Digital Library, has more than doubled, from 2 million at its launch in November to 4.6 million. One of the most important additions is a 1572 edition of Os Lusíadas by Luís de Camões, the national poem of Portugal. Meanwhile the European Commission has declared its objective of increasing the number of digitised objects to a total of 10 million by 2010.
In this context, the Commission has launched a public consultation on the future of the library and the challenges of digitising books in Europe, which will run until 15 November 2009. The consultation raises a number of key questions, including: How can it be ensured that digitised material can be made available to consumers EU-wide? Should there be better cooperation with publishers with regard to in-copyright material? Would it be a good idea to create European registries for orphan and out-of print works? How should European be financed in the long term?
Consult:
- Europe's Digital Library doubles in size but also shows EU's lack of common web copyright solution http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/1257&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
