The European Library has announced the launch of version 1.1. There are now 113 searchable collections across 12 libraries, with access to a further 30 as hyperlinks. Early 2006 will see the addition of 3 more national libraries and their collections and by the end of 2006 there will be at least 23 libraries and more than 200 searchable collections online.

Searches can be performed across geographical borders. Some images can be seen online e.g.: a search for army in the posters collections or for Africa in the maps and atlases collections, but the researcher can also find references to their interests held in libraries other than their own national one. The software for this solution is available for free.

(www.theeuropeanlibrary.org)