BRUSSELS - Europe's heritage went digital Thursday when the European Union launched an online library putting famous works such as Dante's “Divine Comedy" and Beethoven's 9th Symphony just a mouse click away.
Europeana (www.europeana.eu) gives multilingual access to two million digitized books and other items of cultural and historical significance held in over 1,000 institutions in the 27 EU states.
“Europeana offers a journey through time, across borders, and into new ideas of what our culture is. More than that, it will connect people to their history and, through interactive pages and tools, to each other," EU Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding said in a statement.
Soon after its launch the website froze, its servers overwhelmed by volume of 10 million hits an hour.
“It shows the huge interest of European users in this project," Reding's spokesman said.
Europeana (www.europeana.eu) gives multilingual access to two million digitized books and other items of cultural and historical significance held in over 1,000 institutions in the 27 EU states.
“Europeana offers a journey through time, across borders, and into new ideas of what our culture is. More than that, it will connect people to their history and, through interactive pages and tools, to each other," EU Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding said in a statement.
Soon after its launch the website froze, its servers overwhelmed by volume of 10 million hits an hour.
“It shows the huge interest of European users in this project," Reding's spokesman said.
