This document discusses digitization and creative reuse of cultural content. It begins with an introduction to the speaker and the University of Pécs. It then provides an overview of EU policies around digitization, including making cultural heritage available, joint efforts like Europeana, and creating a sustainable information ecosystem. Digitization figures from the ENUMERATE project show progress across Europe. Examples are given of creative reuse of digitized content in apps, education, entertainment, and other areas. Finally, it emphasizes that new business models are needed to support sustainability, and engagement of communities and industries is important for reuse.

1. Digitisation and
creative re-use of
cultural content
Máté Tóth
University of Pécs
toth.mate@oszk.hu

2. Introduction
1. Today’s agenda:
1.Introduction
2.EU policies on digitisation and
digital preservation
3.Digitisation figures
4.Reuse of content
5.Practices from Europe
6.Open discussion

3. Introduction
My city and my university
About digitisation in general

4. Pécs
4

6. • Year of foundation : 1367
 It is one of the oldest universities in Europe,
established by the Anjou king Louis the Great
• Number of students : 34 000
 Foreign students : 1 800
• Number of employees : 10 000
• 10 faculties
 Adult Education and Human Resources
Development
 Library and Information Science Department
 Faculty of Humanities, Arts, Law, Medicine,
Technology, Economics etc.
University of Pécs

7. Why students love us?
• Modern and friendly environment
• Close student-teacher relationship
• Practice-oriented education
• Good infrastructure
• Active Student life
• Educational scholarships (domestic
and international)
7

8. Introduction
Digitisation is easy!
• YES! If you mean scanning a few
pages of books.
• It is the general view on
digitisation by the public.
• „The Hungarian cultural heritage
can be digitised within no more
than 2 weeks!”
(by anonymous politician)

9. Introduction
What is not as easy?
- Finding out what to do
exactly!
- What to digitise?
- How to digitise?
- Who digitise?
- For what purpose?
- For which target group?
- Ensuring sustainability

10. Introduction
“Digitisation” means different things in different
sectors:
 In the AV & film community, digitisation is an urgent
challenge of conversion from unstable formats
 In the library community, success equates to mass-
digitisation, distributed access and discovery
 In the museum community, success is about boutique
digitisation, curated content & end-user experiences
 In the archive community, success tends to be about
management, preservation, discovery and connection.

11. European
Union
policies
MSEG on Digitisation and
Digital Preservation
Core ideas

12. EU policies
MSEG on Digitisation and Digital Preservation
1. To monitor progress on the implementation of the
Commission Recommendation of October 2011, on digitisation
and digital preservation.
2. To exchange information and good practices of Member
States’ policies and strategies on the digitisation and online
accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation.
3. To assist the Commission in monitoring developments
regarding the way cultural digital resources can be
innovatively re-used to offer economic opportunities to the
cultural and creative industries.

13. EU policies
Some core ideas:
1. Making available the
European cultural
heritage
2. Joint efforts
3. Creating a sustainable
information ecosystem

14. EU policies
Making the European cultural heritage available
1. Digitising as much as possible
2. Preservation and service
3. Overcoming legal constraints
 Public Domain
 Orphan works
 Out of commerce works

15. EU policies
Joint efforts
1. Europeana
 „an internet portal that acts as an interface to millions of
books, paintings, films, museum objects and archival records
that have been digitised throughout Europe.” (Wikipedia)
 Building a European identity.
 Satellite projects: 1914-1918, Historiana, Inventing Europe
2. Joint projects
 Digitisation projects (e.g. European Film Gateway)
 Aggregation projects (ATHENA, TEL)
 Metadata projects (Linked Heritage)
 Research projects (Enumerate)

16. EU policies
Creating a sustainable information
ecosystem
1. Considering the needs of
different user groups:
 users,
 cultural heritage sector,
 creative industries
2. Sustainability – catering needs
(public and business)
 Use and Re-use
 Partner sectors:
 Education, Tourism, Research,
Creative industry

17. Digitisation
figures
ENUMERATE project
Current data from Europe

18. Digitisation in figures
ENUMERATE project (2011-2014)
• Objectives:
 Community
 Methodology
 Coordinated surveys
 Normalized data and intelligence
• 1 qualitative and 2 quantitative
surveys all over Europe
• 2015 – the 3rd survey began.

19. Digitisation figures

20. Digitisation figures

21. Digitisation figures

22. Digitisation figures

23. Digitisation figures

24. Digitisation figures

25. Digitisation figures

26. Use and
Re-use
Creative Industry
Europeana

27. Use and reuse of digitised content
• The key for sustainability is identifying the needs and
catering them.
• Clear arguments are needed for maintenance.
 Why do we need digitised cultural heritage. Maybe it is clear for
us, but is clear for all?
• Europeana lives on:
 Member states’ contribution: 1/3 (of which 37% from The
Netherlands)
 European Commission grant: 2/3 – this amount will miss soon…
 Very little amount from the business sector.

28. Use and reuse of digitised content
• Use
 direct use (education,
entertainment, research)
• Reuse
 Creating something new
 New interpretations
 New contexts
• Creative industry

29. Use and reuse of digitised content
An example:
Europeana defined
its target groups in
the following fields:
• End user services;
• Data partner
services;
• Re user services.

30. Use and reuse of digitised content

31. Examples
Examples from Europe
Map of needs

32. Use and reuse of digitised content
• Reuse in a „mobilized context” –
apps!
 Cultural tour at the sights of Géza
Ottlik: Rooftops at Dawn novel.
 Museum guide for a Hungarian poet
Sándor Petőfi. „Who am I?”
 Latvian fairy tales iPasakas app.
 Latvian folk song app. For joint
singing.

33. Use and reuse of digitised content
• Examples for reuse
(educational purpose)
• Inventing Europe
 European Technology
Museums’ cooperation
 Curatorship, guided tours
 Space for collaboration.
• Historiana
 Discussing the past on a
European level
 Field for expressing new ideas.

34. Use and reuse of digitised content
• Entertainment
 BL Labs: Publishing free images on
FlickR
 Users can reuse them for various
purposes
 From Puzzle to video games
 Competitions
 Extreme numbers of use since its start
of 2013.
 http://labs.bl.uk
 Ajapaik
 Geotagging game in Estonia
 Gamified crowdsourcing
 Socially validated data

35. Use and reuse of digitised content
• Reinterpretations of art works, masterpieces
 Van Go Yourself
 http://www.vangoyourself.com

36. Use and reuse of digitised content
• Offline reuse
• Jackie Storer: Hidden Stories of the
First World War. London, British
Library, 2014.
 Collecting memories via Europeana
network
 Storytelling
 Publishing a book „reusing” the
stories.
• Certamen Europeana
 A Spanish essay writing competition
for secondary school students

37. Use and reuse of digitised content
• 3D developments for reuse
 Cyprus: collecting the
images taken at historical
sites
 Reconstructing buildings
virtually in 3D
 Crowdsourcing of the
documentation of built
heritage.
 Selfies „again”

38. Use and reuse of digitised content
• What you get:
• Users:
 Cool services
• Creative industry:
 Content for making money
• Cultural heritage sector:
 Sustainability
• What you give:
• Users:
 Activity
• Creative industry:
 Creativity
• Cultural heritage sector
 Content for free
The more you give, the more you get?

39. Use and reuse of digitised content
• What is needed for this development?
• A more business-oriented approach
 Culture is not financed just because it is culture;
 A clear value proposition should be developed to all stakeholders.
• Huge amount of free content
 The use of copyright protected material is depending on its author. But what
about public domain?
 If a cultural heritage institution don’t want or not capable of making money from
its content let it to others.
• Higher level of engagement of
 User community
 Creative industry
 CH sector

40. Conclusion, summary
• Presently digitisation is not sustainable  New business
models are needed!
• Exploring its context and the value of the product is
necesarry!
• Use and reuse in different contexts,
• Engagement of the community (activity and creativity)

41. Thank you for your
attention!
Questions and comments are
warmly welcome
Máté Tóth
University of Pécs
toth.mate@oszk.hu