London, 3rd June 2008. The Council of Europe has chosen the ArchivalWare digital archiving solution to replace its existing Hyperion digital media archive. ArchivalWare is being provided via the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) facility hosted at the PTFS world-class data centre in Virginia.
ArchivalWare is a web-based, full-text search and retrieval system for the management of digital archive collections. Particular strengths include an outstanding retrieval capability combined with the ability to manage digital material in a wide range of formats.
A key part of the migration is the capability developed by PTFS to extract the entire contents, metadata and structure of the Council of Europe's existing Hyperion system and load it directly into ArchivalWare.
Eva Sodomova (Head of the Information Life Cycle Division) said, "We chose ArchivalWare because it provided a fast and efficient solution for the migration of a legacy e-information repository whilst improving its accessibility. At the same time we were attracted by the automated metadata inheritance and the multimedia streaming functionalities which allow the fast publication of objects on the web."
The collections planned for inclusion in the digital archive include the digitised archives of the adopted texts and grey literature of the Council of Europe as well as posters and a collection of digitised audio-recordings.
Nick Dimant, Managing Director of PTFS Europe said: "We are excited to be involved in this important project and welcome the Council of Europe to our community of users. The Council of Europe has a wide range of material in a variety of formats to manage in its archive.We hope that other institutions with similarly rigorous requirements will realise the value of using ArchivalWare and the tremendous potential it offers."
The Council of Europe use the Unicorn library management system, but ArchivalWare is able to integrate with many of the other leading library management systems. It is also of relevance to a broader user community - in fact, any organisation seeking to manage its digital collections should take a look at ArchivalWare.
About the Council of Europe
"The aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve a greater unity between its members..." (Article 1 - Statute of the Council of Europe)
Founded in 1949, the Council of Europe seeks to develop throughout Europe common and democratic principles based on the European Convention on Human Rights and other reference texts on the protection of individuals.
The Council of Europe has a genuine pan-European dimension: 47 member countries, 1 applicant country and 5 observer countries.
The current Council of Europe's political mandate was defined by the third Summit of Heads of State and Government, held in Warsaw in May 2005. (http://www.coe.int)
About PTFS Europe
PTFS Europe is a company formed to distribute and support the software products of PTFS, Inc., the leading provider of digital archiving solutions in North America. PTFS Europe is able to provide the full range of services needed to implement a digital archival solution, ranging from initial help defining the scope of the opportunity through to project management, installation, configuration, data conversion, scanning and digitisation, training and ongoing customer support.
About PTFS, Inc.
PTFS Digital Archiving Solutions offer advanced, affordable tools and services to manage and keep pace with valuable and rapidly expanding digital collections. PTFS is a leading provider of comprehensive archiving solutions that include digital archiving software systems, digitization & content conversion services, and systems integration & staffing support services. The company has already provided digital archiving systems and information systems services to more than 250 government, commercial, academic, union, association and not-for-profit clients. PTFS is a privately held company headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
