Europeana (is the EU digital platform for cultural heritage. Europeana gives access to different types of content from 3,500 different types of heritage institutions. The digital objects that users can find in Europeana are not stored on a central computer, but remain with the cultural institution and are hosted on their networks. Europeana collects contextual information – or metadata – about the items, including a small picture. Users search this contextual information. Once they find what they are looking for, if they want to access the full content of the item, they can click through to the original site that holds the content. Moreover clear copyright information shows you what you can and can’t do with the treasures you find. Nearly 3 million of our higher quality items are also openly licensed, which means people can use them for their own purposes.

Europeana collects the data on a national, thematic, or project-based level. National Aggregators are also important because they share a background with the organisations whose content they bring together, so there is close understanding between them.

The aggregation workflow, based mainly on National Aggregators, such as CulturaItalia, the Italian National Aggregator managed by ICCU, that enables Europeana to collect huge quantities of data from thousands of providers, through only a handful of nodes.

The Europeana Foundation is the governing body of the Europeana service and is accompanied by the Network Association Members Council, that offers support in planning activities and strategic development plans.

The Europeana Network Association is a strong and democratic community of experts working in the field of digital heritage, united by a shared mission to expand and improve access to Europe's digital cultural heritage.

Would you like to share your ideas or suggestions on Europeana so that Sara Di Giorgio, member for the period 2018-2021, can present them at the next  Europeana Members Council?
Send her an e-mail at: sara.digiorgio@beniculturali.it