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Archives Portal Europe lives through its contributors, the archival institutions holding archival heritage about Europe, and the people contributing to the project. There are different ways of becoming part of the network: as a simple Registered User, as an Ambassador, as Content Provider, as a Country Manager, or as an Associate.
We welcome any type of institution - large national archival institutions as well as small local city archives, private archives, corporate archives, special collections, etc. The more institutions participate in Archives Portal Europe, the more the digital landscape of European archives will grow and diversify, and the more content will become available for users around the world. Joining as Content Provider is completely free of charge, and our technical team will support you in creating a tailored digital strategy. If you want to become a leading partner in the Archives Portal Europe Foundation and commit to determine its long-term strategy and goal, you can become an Associate.
Just like institutions make Archives Portal Europe by providing the archival material, the portal remains alive only as long as people use it and interact with its content and network. If you are an individual or a research centre interested in collaborating with us, please get in touch with our staff, or read how to become an Ambassador. Meanwhile, do create your personal account in the portal, to enjoy all the perks of a Registered User.
Please also join our newsletter, to stay in the loop with all our activities! You can register here.
As a registered user, you will have your own virtual office on Archives Portal Europe to save your searches, share them with anyone you want, and collaborate to the portal. All functionalities are completely free of charge, and you will be able to:
Ready to join Archives Portal Europe and start saving your searches and bookmarks?
We are always looking for people interested in acting as ambassadors in their communities, promoting the usage of APE locally, in their languages and for their interests. If you are a student, this is a unique experience to work closely with archival institutions in your area as well as at an international level - but the scheme is open to anyone interested in collaborating with us!
If you are interested in collaborating with online archives and Archives Portal Europe, please simply email your CV (in English) to info@archivesportaleurope.net and fill in this quick application form.
You can read more information about the scheme in our call here: APE Ambassadors Call.pdf
We are looking for help with activities such as:
- Researching material and writing for our online digital exhibitions;
- Managing and writing for our social media channels;
- Translating our brochure and our web pages;
- Organising workshops to present APE in your local communities;
- Searching and testing the portal for bugs, and to find material on our specific Topics
Most of our activities can be done in your own time, at your own pace, when and if you have some time to help; you can pop in and out of projects that interest you.
We communicate mostly through Slack and Trello; but if you are not very "technological", email will also be fine!
You can read below the list of some of the activities that we are currently working on with volunteers; however, these can change or you can have exciting ideas for new projects that we will be happy to start!
We also have specific crowdsourcing projects where you can just help without the need to contact us - even just a 10-minute trial can make the difference! Visit our dedicated page here to find more about it
We are building a tool that is able to automatically detect archival collections in APE that belong to a specific topic. We need to test it to improve it! Can you spare some time to play with keywords and digital research to help us testing it? All the information are in this blog post about the Automated Topic Detection tool.
We are always looking for help with assisting archives to prepare their material for online presentations, enhance metadata, and link them across languages and topics; for example, are you up to creating a Holdings Guide to provide an overview of all collections from a specific institution?
Archives Portal Europe works across more than 25 languages; any help in translating our communication material, and to assist in our automatic translations and association projects, will be invaluable - and you will get to experiment with a unique multilingual repository!
Archives Portal Europe works across more than 30 countries; we organise our communication and marketing across many digital and physical platforms, with a blend of ...
Archives Portal Europe works across more than 30 countries; we organise our communication and marketing across many digital and physical platforms, with a blend of projects and techniques. As an ambassador, you will be in charge of the communication strategy in your country - we call them Ambassadors for a reason.
For example, you could organise a workshop - we have a budget for that! And we ALWAYS need help with our social media pages, if you want to get experience as a social media manager!
Show lessAPE tries and help researchers from all over the world and in different fields to use archives in their practices. This can go from ...
APE tries and help researchers from all over the world and in different fields to use archives in their practices. This can go from finding video footage for the next documentary presented at the Venice Film Festival (you can read more about it here), to help an old lady to find the birth certificate of her great-great grandmother on the other side of the world (we work a lot with generalogy!).
We also create many digital history exhibitions online (our HIGHLIGHTS), with a co-creational approach: this means that we will ask you to search for documents to include in the exhibitions and write the text that accompanies them. If you are interested, get in touch !
Show lessWe are always looking for suggestions and projects in which Archives Portal Europe can be a partner. If you have an idea, please get ...
We are always looking for suggestions and projects in which Archives Portal Europe can be a partner. If you have an idea, please get in touch with our Research and Engagement Coordinator, and we will immediately contact you!
Show lessThen please get in touch! We welcome any type of institution holding archival heritage related to Europe.
If you are interested in joining APE, please contact info@archivesportaleurope.net (in your language if you prefer it!) We will get back to you through your Country Manager. The country manager is your first point of contact with APE; you can find the Country Managers' list here
Together with your Country Manager, you will decide how you can present your content to the Archives Portal Europe. As far as possible, this should correspond with your institution's requirements; and there is no exclusivity: we can collaborate with a national archives portal, or with a national Europeana aggregator in your country. Remember we are a metadata aggregator, we do not host digitised material directly on our servers. Our exchange of metadata will be formalised by signing the Metadata Exchange Agreement of Archives Portal Europe
The Archives Portal Europe is based on a set of international archival and technical standards that have been defined specifically for their use in ...
The Archives Portal Europe is based on a set of international archival and technical standards that have been defined specifically for their use in Archives Portal Europe. Our technical team will help you to convert your material in the right format, if needed. Learn more about our technical specs here
Show lessThe conversion of your data into the common profiles defined for the Archives Portal Europe will be prepared in close cooperation between you and ...
The conversion of your data into the common profiles defined for the Archives Portal Europe will be prepared in close cooperation between you and our technical staff.
Show lessYou can manage the publication workflow (new content, updates, data deletion etc) yourself once this is put in place, or you can authorise a ...
You can manage the publication workflow (new content, updates, data deletion etc) yourself once this is put in place, or you can authorise a third party to do it for you.
If your country is not represented in Archives Portal Europe yet, please get in touch! Archives Portal Europe is about the history of Europe, but we welcome archives from any country in the world, and we are always looking to expand our network to become more inclusive!
Being a Country Manager can be hard work at times (though never too hard!), and it has important perks:
Country managers will be required to do around 10% of their full time equivalent work - this is one half a day per week.
As Country Manager, you will liaise between the Content Providers and APEF to help with the ingestion of new content in Archives Portal Europe. You will also promote Archives Portal Europe amongst your national-level archives network, to get more institutions to become Content Providers
You will liaise with the other Country Managers and with APEF's central offices to promote Archives Portal Europe in your country, through online meeting as well at the in-person biannual Country Managers' meetings
You will look into technical or other issues that create a hindrance into the ingestion of material in Archives Portal Europe on part of ...
You will look into technical or other issues that create a hindrance into the ingestion of material in Archives Portal Europe on part of providers from your country
Show lessYou will collaborate to the communication activities in your country by translating and distributing promotional material, organise presentation workshops, and liaise with APEF's central ...
You will collaborate to the communication activities in your country by translating and distributing promotional material, organise presentation workshops, and liaise with APEF's central offices to disseminate Archives Portal Europe in your country both to archival institutions and to archives goers.
Show lessIf you want to not only contribute, but to shape the future of Archives Portal Europe and become one of the institutions that ensure its long-term sustainability, then you should consider becoming an Associate.
Candidates should contact the APEF Presidency
(
president@archivesportaleurope.net), with an email describing
the activities and profile of the institution interested in joining as
an Associate, the reasons for the interest in joining APEF, and any
thoughts on what should be the strategy and goals pursued by APEF.
The APEF associate candidate will then be presented to and be approved by the Assembly of Associates (AoA), according to article 21 of the APEF Statutes.
The
association to APEF includes an annual contribution fee which varies
per associate, in relation to the annual operating expenses of the
institution (see our
fee classes for more details). If contribution fees
represent an insurmountable obstacle, the institution can pay part of
the fee via in-kind contribution. In-kind contributions are calculated
in person-hours, and can include event organisation, technical support,
office work, and any other help that the associate can give. In-kind
contributions are discussed individually and agreed with the AoA on a
case by case basis (see more details about
in-kind contributions in this overview).
Please note that it is not necessary to become an associate to upload content to the portal, which is a service completely free or charge. If you are interested in contributing with content without becoming an Associate, go to the Content Provider section.
Please select amongst the relevant tips we can help with. If you still have questions, please do not hesitate to contact us, and we will be in touch as soon as possible.
Starting your search here will include all content available in Archives Portal Europe. Simply enter your keyword(s) and hit the search button. Wrap fixed expressions in quotation marks, e.g. “French Revolution”. Check the box to “Search each term separately” in case you are looking for documents containing at least one word, but not necessarily all keywords; this will also allow you to search for the same term in multiple languages at the same time (e.g. “French Revolution” “Révolution Française”). You can also use wildcards - find more about Research Tools here. If you would like to use more specific settings, try our Advanced search
The additional advanced search options give you the possibility to focus your search in:
When searching with multiple terms at the same time, wrap fixed expressions in quotation marks (e.g. "French Revolution"), or check the box "Search each term separately" in case you are looking for either one term of the other. This will also allow you to search for the same term in multiple languages (e.g. "French Revolution" "Révolution française"). You can also choose one of the suggestions matching your search term once you start typing.
This will only show results that include documents that have been digitised and are available online
Use this option to search only one or more keywords, rather than all of them
Select where your search terms should appear specifically inside the archival description:
You can filter results by selecting where your search terms appears specifically inside the archival description:
You can filter results by selecting where your search terms appears specifically inside the description of the archive:
Please note that this filter will only include institutions, for which a type has been provided as part of their descriptions:
Enter a start and/or end date in the format DD-MM-YYYY, i.e. 01-01-1900 for 1 January 1900. This will allow you to focus your search on a specific period of time. You can use the calendar function or type directly in the text field. The checkbox "Exact date search" concentrates the search on one specific date.
Check "View in context" to view the results in the hierarchical structure of archives.
For more details see Research Tools
Please sign in to save your searches.
A holdings guide is an overview of the collections and fonds of one archival institution.
A finding aid is a structured description of archival materials per collection or fonds up to item level.
You can filter results by selecting one or more countries of interest. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your filter selection will appear above. Click "Clear filters" to see all results matching your initial search request again.
You can filter results by one or more holding archival institutions. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your filter selection will appear above. Click "Clear filters" to see all results matching your initial search request again.
You can select to view results from a specific Finding Aid, i.e., a structured description of archival materials per collection or fonds up to item level. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your filter selection will appear above. Click "Clear filters" to see all results matching your initial search request again.
You can filter by type of descriptive document:
You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your filter selection will appear above. Click "Clear filters" to see all results matching your initial search request again.
You can filter results by selecting "Fonds description" for a general overview or "Other descriptions" for item level. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your filter
selection will appear above. Click "Clear filters" to see all results
matching your initial search request again.
You can filter results by selecting only those containing digital objects, i.e. the link to the digitised version of the archival material you are looking for. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your filter selection will appear above. Click "Clear filters" to see all results matching your initial search request again.
You can filter results by type of digital object you are interested in:
You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your filter selection will appear above. Click "Clear filters" to see all results matching your initial search request again.
You can filter results based on the date of creation of the archival material (which may differ from the time period you are interested in - e.g., philosophers from the Enlightenment period reflecting on classic thinkers)
Please note that not all documents contain a machine-readable date. More information here
You can filter results based on the date of creation of the archival material (which may differ from the time period you are interested in - e.g., philosophers from the Enlightenment period reflecting on classic thinkers). This filter will only include materials with "Full dates", i.e. those that include date information available for date-based searches. You can either search for a specific date of interest or focus step by step on the time span of a century, decade, year or month. When searching for a specific date, enter the date in the format DD-MM-YYYY, i.e. 01/01/1900 for 1 January 1900, via the calendar function or by typing directly in the text field.
This filter concentrates on the earliest dates mentioned in the materials.
You can filter results based on the date of creation of the archival material (which may differ from the time period you are interested in - e.g., philosophers from the Enlightenment period reflecting on classic thinkers). This filter will only include materials with "Full dates", i.e. those that include date information available for date-based searches. You can either search for a specific date of interest or focus step by step on the time span of a century, decade, year or month. When searching for a specific date, enter the date in the format DD-MM-YYYY, i.e. 01/01/1900 for 1 January 1900, via the calendar function or by typing directly in the text field.
This filter concentrates on the latest dates mentioned in the materials.
You can filter results based on the language in which the material is written. Please note that this filter will only include materials where specific language information has been provided by the institution and is therefore in a machine-readable format. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your selection will then be displayed above the search results (see "Search filters"). Clicking "Clear filters" will remove your selection and you will see all results matching your initial search request again.
You can filter results by selecting one or more topics of interest. Please note that this filter will only include materials where the topic has been assigned and is therefore in a machine-readable format. Read how to assign a topic to documents on the Topics page. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your selection will then be displayed above the search results (see "Search filters"). Clicking "Clear filters" will remove your selection and you will see all results matching your initial search request again.
You can filter results by selecting where your search terms appears specifically inside the archival description:
You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your selection will then be displayed above the search results (see "Search filters"). Clicking "Clear filters" will remove your selection and you will see all results matching your initial search request again.
You can filter results by type of entities:
You can filter results based on the language in which the material is written. Please note that this filter will only include materials where specific language information has been provided by the institution and is therefore in a machine-readable format. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your selection will then be displayed above the search results (see "Search filters"). Clicking "Clear filters" will remove your selection and you will see all results matching your initial search request again.
You can filter results based on the type of holding institution. Please note that this filter will only include institutions, for which a type has been provided as part of their descriptions.
Write your message in your own language and use this drop-down menu to have your message translated into English or in the language of the institution for a swifter response. By checking this box and selecting a language you will send your original message along with the translated version
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This object is in the public domain, but has been digitised as the outcome of a public-private partnership, where the terms of the contractual agreement limit commercial use for a certain period of time. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the object for non-commercial use only.
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identified as an Orphan Work in the country of first publication and in
line with the requirements of the national law implementing Directive
2012/28/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October
2012 on certain permitted uses of orphan works.
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You are free to use this object in any way that is permitted by the
copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Please note that you are responsible for your own use, including the need to obtain other permissions e.g. with regard to publicity, privacy, or moral rights.
This object is currently in copyright and the rights holder(s) have allowed re-use for educational purposes only. You are free to use this object in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Please note that you are responsible for your own use, including the need to obtain other permissions e.g. with regard to publicity, privacy or moral rights.
Please contact the providing institution for more information and in order to acquire additional permissions for any other uses.
This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, ShareAlike (BY-SA) licence. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak and build upon the licensed object, even for commercial purposes, as long as you attribute the rights holder as described in the licence, and you license your adaptations of the object under the same terms.
This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, ShareAlike (BY-SA) licence. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak and build upon the licensed object, even for commercial purposes, as long as you attribute the rights holder as described in the licence, and you license your adaptations of the object under the same terms.
This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, No Derivates (BY-ND) licence. You can copy and redistribute the object, even
commercially, as long as no alteration is made to the object and you attribute the rights holder as described in the licence.
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This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, Non-Commercial (BY-NC) licence. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the licensed object for non-commercial use only and as long as you attribute the rights holder as described in the licence.
This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, Non-Commercial, ShareAlike (BY-NC-SA) licence. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the licensed object for non-commercial use only, as long as you attribute the rights
holder as described in
the licence, and as long as you license your adaptations of the object under the same
terms.
This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivates (BY-NC-ND) licence. You can copy and redistribute the object for non-commercial use only, as long as no alteration is made to the object and as long as you attribute the rights
holder as described in
the licence.
If you remix, transform or build upon the object, you may not distribute the modified material.
This object is in the public domain, but has been digitised as the outcome of a public-private partnership, where the terms of the contractual agreement limit commercial use for a certain period of time. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the object for non-commercial use only.
This object has been
identified as an Orphan Work in the country of first publication and in
line with the requirements of the national law implementing Directive
2012/28/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October
2012 on certain permitted uses of orphan works.
You are free to use this object in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Please note that you are responsible for your own use, including the need to obtain other permissions e.g. with regard to publicity, privacy or moral rights.
This object is in the public domain, but is subject to known legal restrictions other than copyright which prevent its free re-use. Please contact the providing institution for more information.
This object is currently in copyright. Please contact the providing institution for more information and in order to acquire additional permissions for re-use.
The copyright status of this object has not been evaluated yet. Please contact the providing institution for more information.
You are free to use this object in any way that is permitted by the
copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Please note that you are responsible for your own use, including the need to obtain other permissions e.g. with regard to publicity, privacy, or moral rights.
This object is currently in copyright and the rights holder(s) have allowed re-use for educational purposes only. You are free to use this object in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Please note that you are responsible for your own use, including the need to obtain other permissions e.g. with regard to publicity, privacy or moral rights.
Please contact the providing institution for more information and in order to acquire additional permissions for any other uses.