Communications of the ACM
Europeana's Huge Cultural Dataset Opens For Reuse
Anna Pavlova in a white Ballet dress, one of the images in Europeana's digital collection.
Credit: Europeana
The digital portal Europeana has made its dataset of more than 20 million cultural objects available to be used freely by developers, designers, and other digital innovators.
Europeana has released the metadata under the Creative Commons CC0 Public Domain Dedication, which means anyone can use the data for any purpose, with no restrictions. Electronic entrepreneurs will have an opportunity to create innovative apps and games for tablets and smartphones, in addition to new Web services and portals.
"People often speak about closing the digital divide and opening up culture to new audiences but very few can claim such a big contribution to those efforts as Europeana's shift to creative commons," says the European Commission's Neelie Kroes.
Moreover, the move means Europeana's dataset can be used in Linked Open Data developments, and could potentially bring together data from Europe's leading libraries, museums, and archives with data from sectors such as tourism and broadcasting. "This is the world's premier cultural dataset, and the decision to open it up for reuse is bold and forward looking--it recognizes the important potential for innovation that access to digital data provides," says Europeana executive director Jill Cousins.
From Europeana Professional
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