About ENUMERATE

Current activities and future plans 

ENUMERATE started in 2011 as a European Commission funded project, led by the Collections Trust in the UK. As of 2014, the project became part of Europeana v3 led by Collections Trust and the DEN Foundation in the Netherlands.

The primary objective of ENUMERATE was and still is, to create a reliable baseline of statistical data about digitisation, digital preservation and online access to cultural heritage in Europe.

Bringing the expertise built into the ENUMERATE project into the operational environment of Europeana has two advantages: the results of ENUMERATE will be continued through the work on Europeana, and Europeana gets a head start to run and coordinate quantitative surveys to digital cultural heritage services in Europe.

ENUMERATE engages itself in the following activities:

• Managing the ENUMERATE framework, documentation and dataplatform and ensure its sustainability.

• Maintaining contacts with the National Coordinators.

• Research and consultation on new topics for future surveys.

Partners

• DEN Foundation, Netherlands

• Collections Trust, UK

• National Coordinators

Past activities

ENUMERATE (v1.0) was funded by the ICT Policy Support Programme of the European Commission and was running for three years, from 2011-2014. It now continues as part of Europeana.

Statistical data on Europe’s digital heritage is tentative and scattered at best. For the European Commission and many of the agencies and actors in the field of culture there is no consistent evidence base for making strategic decisions on investments in digitisation.The first ENUMERATE project brought about major improvements in the quality and availability of intelligence about digital heritage. A consortium of 10 partners was at the heart of the ENUMERATE 'Thematic Network'. Together they initiated a Europe-wide community of practice to share statistical data and knowledge on the progress of digitisation.

ENUMERATE built on the results of the NUMERIC project (2007-2009) and is now (since 2014) part of Europeana. NUMERIC was a ground breaking initiative to create a framework for the gathering of statistical data on digital cultural heritage. ENUMERATE improved and refined the methodology from NUMERIC and published the data online for re-use. ENUMERATE also took into account the results of a recent study of Collections Trust into the costs of digitising Europe’s cultural heritage. As part of Europeana, ENUMERATE will continue to improve the methodology, carry out surveys and improve the data platform.

ENUMERATE past project consortium:

• Collections Trust, UK: Nick Poole (Project Coordinator) & Gordon McKenna (Project Manager);

• Digitaal Erfgoed Nederland (DEN), Netherlands: Marco de Niet, Gerhard Jan Nauta & Sjoerd Bakker;

• Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Germany: Monika Hagedorn-Saupe, Stefan Rohde-Enslin & Axel Ermert;

• Digibís, Spain: Xavier Agenjo Bullón, Jesús L. Domínguez Muriel & Francisca Hernández Carrascal;

• FARO Vlaams Steunpunt voor Cultureel Erfgoed, Belgium: Jeroen Walterus & Alexander Van der Stichele;

• Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, France: Sonia Zillhardt;

• Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Austria: Max Kaiser, Bettina Kann & Hans Petschar;

• Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica (National and University Library), Slovenia: Gorazd Vodeb;

• Országos Széchényi Könyvtár (OSZK; National Széchényi Library), Hungary: Lajos Vonderviszt & Gábor Veres;

• The European Library (hosted by the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Netherlands): Louise Edwards & Julia Brungs.

Find out more

• National Co-ordinators

• Methodology and Guidance