Europeana launches Open Culture App
Europeana has launched its first free iPad app “Europeana Open Culture” that introduces the wonderful collections of its partners. Institutions from around Europe have hand-picked 350.000 images from their collections especially for the app, including costume-related images.
Screenshot of the Europeana Open Culture app.
Costume is represented in the app via the costume collection of the Rijksmuseum, comprising of approximately 4.000 items. Nearly 100 costume-related objects from this collection can be accessed via the Europeana Open Culture app as well as a large selection of jewellery.
But the app offers more than just information on the collections and comes with a variety of extra features. Thanks to the large size of the images, you can zoom in in great detail and a comment option allows you to discuss the object with others. You can also share the images on your social media account and even link it to other articles on the web, for example on Wikipedia. Your favourite objects can be saved to curate your own personal museum or feel free to use them outside the app, as all images are either in the public domain or openly licensed.
Screenshot of the Europeana Open Culture app.
Jill Cousins, Europeana Executive Director says:
“We’re really pleased to launch the first ever Europeana app. By downloading Europeana Open Culture, more people can now explore, share and have fun with Europe’s cultural heritage. It’s only a small snapshot of the whole of Europeana’s collections but small is beautiful. We’re enthusiastic and excited about the ‘Connect’ feature which you can use to link images to articles on the web, or to content on Wikipedia. And for the first time, you can make your own comments on individual images.”
Find out more on the Europeana blog or download the app directly from the iTunes app store. The app is currently only available for Apple iPad. The interface is in English, but the collections are in their original languages: English, Dutch, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Bulgarian and Latin!
Via the Open Culture app, Europeana makes cultural heritage available to everyone. Do you also think Europe’s cultural heritage should be openly and freely available for all? Support Europeana’s investment in digital cultural programmes across Europe so it can continue to disclose Europe’s cultural heritage. Join #AllezCulture on Facebook and tweet #allezculture and tell us why open and free access to cultural heritage is important.
Screenshot of the Europeana Open Culture app.