The From shelf to data space Working Group supports smaller heritage organisations to deliver higher quality (meta)data to Europeana and the data space, and support these organisations in their capacity building towards digital transformation.
The From Shelf to Data Space Working Group (FSDS WG) continues and complements the work of the Workflow from shelf to Europeana Task Force (FSTE), which aimed to support cultural heritage institutions, especially smaller ones, to establish an easy-to-use workflow for each step 'from shelf to Europeana'. To achieve its goals, the TF created the Digitisation Handbook, which is published openly on GitHub.
The FSDS WG will keep the Digitisation Handbook up to date while expanding the Handbook to better meet the current and future needs of the common European data space for cultural heritage (3D digitisation, IIIF images, etc.). Since the Digitisation Handbook is aimed specifically at smaller institutions, a key part of the FSDS WG's activities will be to make the Handbook easier to use through producing translations. FSDS WG will also organise webinars and other events to promote the use of the Digitisation Handbook.
The FSTDS WG will coordinate its work with other capacity building initiatives, such as the Europeana 3D Working Group, Data Quality Committee, Europeana Capacity Building Working Group, the 3D-4CH Competence Center and the ECHOES project WP5 (Capacity Building and Training).
A kick-off webinar will present the current state of the Digitisation Handbook and discuss its development, as a follow-up to the panel discussion on the Handbook at the most recent EuropeanaTech Conference.
The FSDS WG will contribute to the Europeana 2020–25 strategic priority #1: Strengthen the infrastructure by developing a standardised and easy to use workflow for content providers, supported by selected tools and best practices.
In Europeana, the data flows through professional aggregators. However, the common European data space for cultural heritage will be developed into a decentralised system. This will further emphasise the capabilities of individual organisations. The Digitisation Handbook will help smaller organisations to produce higher-quality cultural heritage data for the data space, which contributes to its usability and reliability.
Expected outcomes of the Working Group
