Accrediting aggregators through the Europeana Aggregators’ Forum
The Europeana Aggregators' Forum (EAF) is a network of national, regional, domain and thematic aggregators who work to exchange the knowledge and best practice that supports aggregation and data sharing in their own contexts and with Europeana.eu.
In 2019, the Forum launched an accreditation scheme to identify active aggregators and acknowledge their role as trusted partners for cultural heritage institutions wanting to publish their data on Europeana.eu (and other platforms in the wider network). Being accredited makes an aggregator part of a wider network of aggregators from all over Europe sharing the goal of supporting the cultural heritage sector in its digital transformation. As such, accredited aggregators are not only about sharing data, but they also play a vital role in enabling capacity building opportunities based on common principles and practices.
Our two new aggregators
Every accredited aggregator has a seat in the Europeana Aggregators’ Forum (EAF), and at the recent Forum event in Budapest, we were delighted to be able to announce that two new aggregators have joined the Forum.
Catalònica is a portal that provides a window to the digital collections of Catalunya, and is promoted by the Biblioteca de Catalunya of the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya. Catalònica indexes digital and digitised sources found in libraries, archives, museums and other institutions, including books, magazines and newspapers, manuscripts, incunabula, scores, sound, audiovisuals, objects, paintings, photographs and much more. Their work shares the cultural memory and knowledge generated in Catalunya, and facilitates its participation in international digital libraries and Europeana.eu. Explore collections shared by Catalònica.
Marta Riera Sagrera, Technician and Eugènia Serra Aranda, Director at the Biblioteca de Catalunya say, ‘Becoming a trusted partner of Europeana means strengthening our role as the national library of Catalonia, supporting Catalan institutions to open their heritage to Europe and the world.’
Slovakiana shares and promotes Slovak cultural heritage to enthusiasts, professionals, teachers, students, and researchers. It is unique in bringing objects from more than 150 Slovak cultural heritage institutions and stakeholders together in one place, and gives access to almost 800,000 digitised objects and census sheets from museums, libraries, galleries, monuments, archives and other stakeholders. The high-definition images Slovankiana makes available can be enlarged and examined in detail, which enables visitors to view remarkable pieces of natural heritage or fine art collection. Explore collections shared by Slovakiana.
Lucia Bistárová, Head of Department of Education, Research and Statistics at the National Centre for Culture and Further Education, says, ‘We still have a long way to go, but being a trusted partner of the Forum really fuels us. We believe that being an accredited aggregator will also motivate Slovak institutions to share their assets and make them visible to Europe and the world.’
Marie-Véronique Leroi, Chair of the Europeana Aggregators' Forum, says, ‘The EAF Steering Group is happy and excited to welcome these two new aggregators. There is a rigorous process for an aggregator to receive accreditation, so when we finally get to welcome them as a trusted partner of the Europeana ecosystem, it is a great achievement. Expanding our community of aggregators is important in the context of the Europeana Initiative, but it resonates even more in the context of the common European data space for cultural heritage, where their role and activities will be strongly reinforced.’
Find out more
If you are an organisation interested in becoming an accredited aggregator, please contact [email protected] and find out more about the Europeana Aggregators’ Forum.