Mapping European Digital Heritage Politics: An Empirical Study of Europeana as a Web-based Network

Abstract

Europeana is a cultural heritage initiative financed by the European Union (EU) with the primary scope of curating a platform aggregating digital collections of European cultural heritage. Among other tasks, Europeana designs best practices and digital tools aligned with the EU’s digital cultural policy to support the digitization of cultural heritage institutions in the member states. Therefore, it can be considered a socio-political actor building an international network. Nevertheless, it has mainly been studied as a digital service. To investigate Europeana’s impact on the European cultural sector, this work proposes a three-level methodology combining web mapping, close reading of websites, and statistical analysis. This methodology offers a comprehensive picture of the Europeana platform’s role on the web, providing evidence of its action as a social hub gathering a network of national and local actors in the European cultural environment.