EDEL - a European Digital Library for Economics

Abstract

The EU Decomate II Project has created a successful end-user service for researchers and students in Economics, through a partnership and a technical infrastructure in which university libraries in six countries (NL, ES, UK, IT, BE, GR) can share access to electronic library materials,from a variety of sources, in a variety of formats, through a single consistent Web interface. Extensive consultation has been undertaken with end-users to influence the scope of content, presentation of material, and the features provided by the Decomate software, developed and operated by the partner libraries. The project has also worked with commercial partners to develop new licensing agreements, recognising the needs of academic users for integrated access to a wide range of resources. This paper looks at the various issues which have had to be tackled in a European consortium of this kind. It also explores ways in which the Decomate model could be adapted or extended to other subjects and to other EU countries, and recognises the need for Decomate-type services to fit into a range of national and international digital initiatives. To extend the collaboration developed under the Decomate II Project, the university partners wish to establish a permanent European Digital Library for Economics, involving universities for which this is a key subject area, with at least one library in each of the EU member states.