Europeana - The Digital Construction of Europe's Collective Memory

In this article a critical discourse analysis is conducted on the formal EU documents that led to the construction of the digital library Europeana. The analysis links these discourses to the actual user experience of the current beta version of Europeana and examines how they relate to the interactive, user-generated and participative features of Web 2.0. At ceremonial occasions and in the communication conducted on Europeana's portal, user-generated content is underscored. This is, however, neither mirrored in the discourse analysis nor when Europeana is further tested. Therefore, even though there is will to incorporate the digital flows and processes of mass self-communication within the sphere of Europeana, the library as the purveyor of the ‘right’ knowledge is still a dominant factor, and therefore the modern ‘produsers’ are left out.