The European Library - pushing the boundaries of usability

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to present an overview of The European Library as a portal and discuss the issues of usability this gives in delivery of multicultural, multilingual access to the cultural heritage in Europe's National Libraries.Design/methodology/approach – The approach is a description of the service its business model, management structure and technical base with an emphasis on how this does or does not work for the user.Findings – Portals are not great user experiences. This is further complicated in the case of The European Library by the language barrier for search and retrieval across national boundaries. However, the existence of The European Library is at least of accessing material that would otherwise remain only accessible within the library itself. It is also a big step towards the creation of a European Digital Library.Originality/value – The paper discusses more of the effects of such a portal on the user than has elsewhere been published. The value is in its descrip...