Recommendation 2006/585 - Digitisation and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 236/28

On 1 June 2005 the Commission presented the i2010 initiative, which seeks to optimise the benefits of the new information technologies for economic growth, job creation and the quality of life of European citizens. The Commission has made digital libraries a key aspect of i2010. In its Communication ‘i2010: digital libraries’ of 30 September 2005 (1), it set out its strategy for digitisation, online accessibility and digital preservation of Europe's collective memory. This collective memory includes print (books, journals, newspapers), photographs, museum objects, archival documents, audiovisual material (hereinafter ‘cultural material’).

Measures applying that strategy with a view to optimising, by means of the Internet, the economic and cultural potential of Europe's cultural heritage should be recommended to the Member States.

In that context, the development of digitised material from libraries, archives and museums should be encouraged. The online accessibility of the material will make it possible for citizens throughout Europe to access and use it for leisure, studies or work. It will give Europe's diverse and multilingual heritage a clear profile on the Internet. Moreover, the digitised material can be re-used in industries such as tourism and the education industry, as well as in new creative efforts.

Furthermore, the Council Conclusions of 15-16 November 2004 on the Workplan for Culture 2005-2006 stress the contribution of creativity and creative industries to economic growth in Europe, and the need for a coordinated digitisation effort.

The European Parliament and Council Recommendation of 16 November 2005 on film heritage and the competitiveness of related industrial activities (2) already recommended to Member States to adopt appropriate measures to increase the use of digital and new technologies in the collection, cataloguing, preservation and restoration of cinematographic works. In as far as cinematographic works are concerned the present Recommendation complements the Parliament and Council Recommendation on film heritage on a number of aspects.

Digitisation is an important means of ensuring greater access to cultural material. In some cases it is the only means of ensuring that such material will be available for future generations. Thus, many digitisation initiatives are currently being undertaken in the Member States, but efforts are fragmented. Concerted action by the Member States to digitise their cultural heritage would lend greater coherence to the selection of material and would avoid overlap in digitisation. It would also lead to a more secure climate for companies investing in digitisation technologies. Overviews of current and planned digitisation activities and quantitative targets for digitisation would contribute to the achievement of those objectives.

Private sector sponsoring of digitisation or partnerships between the public and private sectors can involve private entities in digitisation efforts and should be further encouraged.

Investments in new technologies and large scale digitisation facilities can bring down costs of digitisation while maintaining or improving quality and should therefore be recommended.

A common multilingual access point would make it possible to search Europe's distributed — that is to say, held in different...