Introduction to The European Library business model Aubéry Escande

Linking library content…  Service of all 48 European National libraries to provide access to their catalogues & digital collections via 1 central, multi-lingual web- interface (= PORTAL) Libraries Users  Alternate point of access  Exposure to a wider audience  Platform for collaboration  Single point of access  Search multiple libraries and collections  Multi-lingual interface

A pan-European service…

Exhibition foyer

Treasures of the national libraries

Napoleonic Wars exhibition

Multilingual portal in 36 languages e.g. FAQs in Bosnian e.g. First Time User Guide in Armenian

Multilingual collection descriptions

The European Library governance CENL Conference of European National Librarians Executive Committee The European Library Management Committee The European Library Contacts Working Group Technical Working Group Editorial Working Group Metadata Working Group Marketing Working Group The European Library Office Working Groups

Basic Participants vs. Full Participants  Basic participants rights and obligations –Library details (opening hours, collections, online services, exhibitions currently held and major treasures)  Full participants rights and obligations : –collections and resources access via a combination of centralised and distributed indexes of partner metadata –metadata including collection-level metadata conforming to the TEL Application Profile –administrative and technical infrastructure to ensure efficient operations, and effective policies, decisions and governance –marketing to the search engines, academic libraries and learned bodies worldwide

Basic Participants vs. Full Participants

Current business model  Subscription by individual libraries  3-year commitment  Fee bands  Fee level determined by –Economic indicators of country Gross national income per capita Purchasing power parity Gross national income Gross domestic product Population size of country –Library resources Number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff per library

Issues with current model  Economic crisis –Fluctuating exchange rates –Library budget cuts  Perception of fairness of current structure  Future growth of The European Library –Library domain aggregator into Europeana –Other roles e.g. National Libraries Global

Decisions on business model  For 2009 –Fees remain unchanged  For 2010 –Existing formula retained –Fresh data used time series World Bank  For 2011 –Current business model reviewed

Q & A’s  Thank you