The European Library launches a new version of its website; read more about the new functionalities, added collections and “search” opportunities!

New collections and new themes: The European Library introduces 6 new collections from the National libraries of Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Russia-Moscow and Spain. Additionally, the Treasure pages have been converted into a searchable collection. Visitors can now access 307 collections under The European Library.

The Metadata Working Group has been investigating ways to improve the “SEARCH” interface; their conclusions led to a clearer presentation and more accurate search themes. Additionally, the Metadata Working Group reviewed the order of metadata fields displayed on full record.

New “The European Library – FireFox speedup” plug-in: Version 1.6 also introduces a FireFox speedup plug-in that optimises FireFox network settings for federated searching. The installation of the plug-in is likely to increase the speed of overall retrieval time by 60%. Click here for more details.

New HOME page and First Web Exhibition: The HOME page overall lay-out and content have been brightened and direct access to The European Library first web-exhibition has been set up. The exhibition features 300 pictures of the National libraries of Europe, a unique and fascinating gallery that mirrors the broad architectural variety of The European Library partners across Europe.

New “Assistance”: The “Help?” interface has been considerably improved so that first-time visitors can access not only version 1.5 Help text, but also “FAQ’s” and “User Guide” within the same pop-up display. Additionally, a “search” tool has been added to help visitors identify the answers to their queries. Click on “Help?” on the HOME page for more details.

New LIBRARIES pages: A new presentation of the LIBRARIES section has been introduced. Access is based on a more interactive approach via a clickable map of Europe. The editorial content of each National library has been set in a database and an exhibition space for each National library has been introduced.

Source: The European Library

This entry was posted on Friday, January 4th, 2008 and is filed under Libraries and Librarianship, Search News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.