New Online Discovery Service For Researchers

Access 200 million trusted sources from libraries in 46 European countries.

Research communities worldwide now have unrivalled online access to the collections of national and university libraries from 46 European countries, following the launch of the new European Library portal.

Providing a single point of access to over 200 million high quality sources, plus excellent search and retrieval tools, The European Library (www.theeuropeanlibrary.org) enables researchers to find, use and share a vast range of materials (including digital and multimedia content) with speed and ease.

The service will be officially launched at the 41st Annual LIBER Conference in Tartu, Estonia in front of an audience of over 320 participants from across Europe. The National Library of Estonia and Tartu University are both participating in this important pan‐European initiative.

“We are very pleased that this invaluable new online service will be launched at Tartu University during the LIBER conference,” said Ermel Malle, Director of Tartu University Library. “We are also delighted that by participating in The European Library, our collections will be more accessible internationally than ever before.”

Janne Andresoo, Director of the National Library of Estonia, also welcomed the new service and said it would be a valuable academic resource.

“The launch of the new European Library opens up exciting opportunities for researchers worldwide. For the first time, collections from university libraries can be cross‐searched alongside collections from national libraries. This means that an even larger critical mass of high quality materials can be cross‐searched simultaneously.”

From rare books and manuscripts to images and video, The European Library offers access to over 10 million digital items. There are also 24 million pages of full‐text content in every subject in addition to bibliographic records.

“We are working towards tomorrow’s library,” said Erland Kolding Nielsen, Chair of The European Library Management Committee, and Director General of The Royal Library of Copenhagen. “Research communities depend on us and we exist to serve them so we have completely redesigned The European Library portal to meet their needs.”

“In order to maximize opportunities for access by researchers, content will also be made available free of charge for re‐use by research networks and websites through API feeds. As a result, the new possibilities for research are staggering,” added Louise Edwards, Director of The European Library.