[Ecommerce] EU online consultation re Digital libraries DEADLINE Jan. 20, 06

[Manon Ress]

i2010 Digital Libraries
http://europa.eu.int/information_society/activities/digital_libraries/
consultation/index_en.htm

The Commission adopted on 30/09/2005 the "i2010: Digital Libraries"
communication outlining the vision of this initiative and addressing
in particular the issues of digitisation, on line accessibility and
digital preservation of our cultural heritage.  The communication is
supported by a Staff Working Document which provides further
background information....
Download the Communication   pdf 75 kb :
Download the Staff working document   pdf 110 kb :

In the Culture Council of 14 November 2005, the Commission initiative
on Digital Libraries was well received and strongly supported by the
Ministers of Culture of the Member States....

On-line Consultation
All interested individuals and organisations are encouraged to
provide by 20 January 2006 their views on several key issues and
problems for realising the digital libraries initiative. >>more...The
Communication =91i2010: digital libraries=92 and the accompanying staff
working paper have explored the consequences of the Internet
environment for the accessibility and usability of Europe=92s
intellectual record. The questions below address a set of issues
identified in the Communication and the staff working paper, which
require further consideration and discussion. The questions have to
be read in conjunction with the relevant parts of the main documents.

Digitisation and online accessibility

1) What additional measures could be taken at national and European
level to encourage digitisation and online accessibility of material
in all European languages?
2) What measures could be taken to promote private investments and
new business-models such as public-private partnerships for
digitising and making historical collections accessible?
3) What measures of a legislative, technical, organisational or other
nature, could facilitate the digitisation and subsequent
accessibility of copyrighted material, while respecting the
legitimate interests of authors?
4) Is the issue of orphan material economically important and
relevant in practice? If yes, what technical, organisational and
legal mechanisms could be used to facilitate wider use of this material?
5) How could public domain material and other material available for
general use (voluntary sharing) be made more transparent and widely
known in order to facilitate its online availability for subsequent use?

Preservation of digital content
6) What priority measures =96 in particular of an organisational and
legal nature-=96 should be taken at national and European level to
optimise the preservation of digital content with the limited
resources available?
7) Is there a risk that national legal deposit schemes lead to a
multiplication of requirements on internationally active companies?
Would European legislation help avoiding this?
8) How could research contribute to progress on the preservation
front? Which axes of work should be addressed in priority by the
forthcoming Specific Research Programmes as part of the 7th Framework
Programme?

All interested individuals and organisations - from the private and
from the public sector - are encouraged to provide their views on
some or all of these questions. Replies and comments should be sent
to the following address before 20 January 2006:
European Commission
Attn. Mr. Hern=E1ndez-Ros,
Head of Unit DG INFSO E4, Information Market
B=E2timent EUROFORUM, Office 1174
Rue Alcide de Gasperi
L-2920 Luxembourg
E-mail address:

Organisations and persons contributing to the consultation will get
an acknowledgment of receipt of their contribution.
At the end of the consultation period, submissions will be made
available at  this web address, unless a request not to do so has
been expressly made by those contributing.

The results of the online consultation will be an important input for
a possible Recommendation on digitisation and digital preservation.
They will feed into other processes, such as the implementation of
the Community RTD programmes and the revision of the copyrights
framework.

************************************************
Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org,
www.cptech.org

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