ENUMERATE urges re-use of results

Monika Hagedorn-Saupe writes on behalf of the ENUMERATE project, asking some probing questions about the nature and cost of digitisation, and encouraging you to make use of the statistical information they are collecting.

How much do we know about the growth of digital collections in Europe?

Do we know how digital material is used?

How much does digitisation cost?

How is digital preservation maintained?

These are questions many actors in the cultural field and primarily the European Commission are confronted with. There is not yet a consistent evidence base for making strategic decisions about investments in digitisation. The ENUMERATE project, co-funded by the European Commission, was started with the aim of creating a reliable baseline of statistical data about digitisation, digital preservation and online access to cultural heritage in Europe. ENUMERATE should bring about major improvements in the quality and availability of intelligence about digital heritage.

The ENUMERATE Consortium of ten partners is at the heart of the ENUMERATE ‘Thematic Network’. Together, they have initiated a Europe-wide community of practice to share statistical data and knowledge on the progress of digitisation.

The ENUMERATE team

One of the project's activities is to conduct a programme of coordinated surveys over several years. Currently the project focuses on thematic surveys to acquire a detailed understanding of how best to measure the growth of digital collections, the usage of digital material, costs of digitisation and digital preservation practices.

ENUMERATE's first core survey was conducted in 2012 and the results have been published on the ENUMERATE website. The Consortium is also proud to announce the launch of its Data Platform - the repository of all the project's data - which is now ready for consultation. Anonymised data can be downloaded and used.

The ENUMERATE Consortium would love it if the results of this project are re-used, re-analysed and re-interpreted as much as possible. Also, those of you who are interested in open source tools for the assessment and reporting of statistical data can find an evaluation of the tools we've tested as part of the project on the Data Platform.

More information

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