Information Systems Laboratory (ISL)

DELOS Network of Excellence on Digital Libraries

Digital Libraries (DL) have been made possible through the integration and use of a number of IC technologies, the availability of digital content on a global scale and a strong demand for users who are now online. They are destined to become essential part of the information infrastructure in the 21st century. The DELOS network intends to conduct a joint program of activities (JPA) aimed at integrating and coordinating the ongoing research activities of the major European teams working in DL-related areas with the goal of developing the next generation DL technologies. The objective is to (i) define unifying and comprehensive theories and frameworks over the life-cycle of DL information, (ii) build interoperable multimodal/multilingual services and integrated content management ranging from the personal to the global for the specialist and the general population. The Network aims at developing generic DL technology to be incorporated into industrial-strength DL Management Systems (DLMSs), offering advanced functionality through reliable and extensible services.
The Network will also disseminate knowledge of DL technologies to many diverse application domains. To this end a Virtual DL Competence Centre will be established which will provide specific user communities with access to advanced DL technologies, services, testbeds, and the necessary expertise and knowledge to facilitate their take-up.
Other important objectives are: to network and structure European DL-related research in order to consolidate an emerging community; to provide a forum where researchers, practitioners, and representatives of interested applications and industries can exchange ideas and experiences; to promote an exchange programme towards improving international cooperation in DL research areas.

Contact Person: Martin Doerr, Vassilis Christophides
E Mail: {martin, christop}Atics.forth.gr
Duration: 1/1/2004 - 31/12/2007 (48 months)
Funding: EU - IST
Prime Contractor: ERCIM Management Coordinator, CNR-ISTI Scientific Coordinator
Project Leader: Bruno Le Dantec
Participants: Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule Zurich (Switzerland), University of Bath (UK), National and Capodistrian University of Athens (Greece), Technical University of Crete (Greece), Universita degli Studi di Firenze (Italy), Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Forderung der Angewandten Forschung (Germany), University of Glasgow (UK), Universitat Duisburg-Essen (Germany), Stichting Centrum voor Wiskunde en Informatica (Netherlands), Risoe National Library (Denmark), Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (Greece), Universita degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” (Italy), Brunel University (UK),Institute of Communication and Computer Systems (Greece), Universita degli Studi di Padova (Italy), Universita degli Studi di Milano (Italy), Institut fuer Medizinische Informatik und Technik Tyrol (Austria), Max-Planck-Gesellschaft z.F.d.W. represented by: MPI fuer Informatik (Germany), Kuratorium OFFIS E.V. (Germany), Queen Mary & Westfield College, University of London (UK), University of Strathclyde (UK), Ionian University, Archive and Library Science Department (Greece), Universite Paris-sud XI (France), The University of Southampton (UK), The University of Edinburgh (UK), Institut fuer Informationsverarbeitung und Computergestuetze Neue Medien (Austria), Technische Universitat Wien (Austria), Universita’ degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo (Italy), Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet NTNU (Norway), Lunds Universitat (Sweden), Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (France), Aristotle University of Thessalonikis (Greece), Nationaal Archief (Netherlands), Univesitaet Bremen (Switzerland), Osterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (Austria), University of Leeds (UK),Universitat zu Koln (Germany), Forma (Centro di) Formazione e Ricerche per Metodologie Applicate alla Conservazione, Gestione e Comunicazione di Beni Culturali (Italy), SICS, Swedish Institute of Computer Science AB (Sweden), Universita' di Modena e Reggio Emilia (Italy), Masarykova Universita v Brne (Czech Republic), Universiteit van Amsterdam (Netherlands), Universita' della Svizzera Italiana (Switzerland), Magyar Tudomanyos Akademia Szamitastechnikai es Automatizalasi Kutatointezet (Hungary), Univerisita' degli Studi di Bari - Dipartimento di Informatica (Italy)