Introduction

Following the creation of the European Commission's digital strategy in recent years, European libraries have been meticulously digitizing parts of their cultural heritage. At the same time they have witnessed increasing demand from researchers and readers for access to digital resources, particularly historical books. This was the impetus behind the eBooks on Demand (EOD) network, which provides a trans-European digital document delivery service for readers all over the world. Currently the EOD network consists of almost 30 libraries from 12 European countries. Since 2007 between 4000 and 5000 e-books have been generated, delivered to users worldwide and subsequently made available to the public through the repositories of the participating libraries. User reactions have been very positive and more libraries are interested in offering the service. This chapter examines the service in general, the libraries involved, the experience from both user and library points of view, and future developments.

Background

In 2005, the European Commission launched i2010, a policy framework for the information society and media, which aimed to promote ‘the positive contribution that information and communication technologies (ICT) can make to the economy, society and personal quality of life’ (Europa, 2010). Recently the i2010 strategy has been superseded by a new initiative, the Digital Agenda for Europe 2010–2020, which aims to ‘maximize the benefit of the Digital Revolution for all’. In line with both of these initiatives, European libraries and other cultural institutions are gradually digitizing and making available their cultural heritage to a wider public. However, it will still take decades for the majority of books, journals and other library material to become available in digital form owing to the sheer volume of source material, despite the digitization efforts of Google Books.

In an ideal world, all of the works in a collection would be considered for digitization. In practice, however, this is rarely feasible and difficult choices must be made. Lists of criteria have been developed for identifying the most appropriate titles. According to the MINERVA Good Practices Handbook (Minerva Working Group 6, 2004), material should be prioritized for digitization when: