Description

This is a specialized course aimed at fostering widespread access to European works which are part of Europe’s audiovisual heritage. Students will learn about the European Union policies in force to achieve open access to cultural heritage and, by extension, to scientific knowledge.

Syllabus

1. Open access in heritage institutions
2. Components of open access:

• Open and free software 
• Electronic publishing initiatives 
• Open archive initiatives 
• Open licences 

3. Public domain: Validity of the Europeana Charter 
4. Licences for reuse: the Europeana scheme and Europeana best practices
5. Case study on the digitization of collections in different European institutions: images, photographs and phonograms. 

This course has been taught at the School of Information Sciences (Documentation) since September 2019. We would also like to offer it to Communication, History and Journalism students to reach at least twenty to twenty-five students.

In order for these activities to have an important social impact so that matters relating to audiovisual heritage reach broader audiences, it is necessary for libraries and cultural-heritage information units working in all formats to engage with these issues.

The training of new professionals in the understanding and application of this knowledge will be essential in promoting the creation of a solid European digital cultural heritage. It will be also central to expanding these skills to the labour market, industry and public institutions.