Written question asked by Mike Hancock (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 16 July 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 18 July 2007. It was answered by Baroness Hodge of Barking (Labour) on Monday, 23 July 2007 on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Libraries: Digital Technology

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps his Department is taking to assist in the establishment of the European Digital Library.

Answer: Earlier this year, DCMS and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) jointly ran a workshop on digitisation, cultural resources and the creative industries. The impetus behind the event was the European Commission’s Conclusions on its European Digital Library (EDL) project. The workshop was attended by more than 100 key stakeholders from across the UK, representing museums, libraries, archives, academia, film, broadcasting, heritage, music, publishing and tourism, and other Government Departments. The Department is now considering how best to draw on the issues raised at the workshop to assist in the establishment of the EDL.

Secondary information