MICHAEL: towards a catalogue for the European digital library
The Watershed, Bristol - 15 November, 2005

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Registration for the UK Presidency Events is now closed. If you have any questions, please contact Natasha Bishop as soon as possible.

Introduction

The MICHAEL project (Multilingual Inventory of Cultural Heritage in Europe) is a partnership between France, Italy and the United Kingdom. The project is supported by the European Commission through its eTen programme, which is dedicated to the deployment of new technologies in Europe.

MICHAEL aims to provide simple and quick access to the digital collections of museums, libraries and archives from different European countries. The multi-lingual platform is equipped with a search engine that will retrieve digital collections that are dispersed in different places and held on different servers. There will be many uses for MICHAEL for education and research, and also for the creative industries and for tourism. This platform constitutes an essential stepping-stone towards the creation of a European cultural space on the Internet. (http://www.michael-culture.org/index.html)

Programme

The programme for the conference will:

• Launch the MICHAEL project in the UK
• Explore ways of providing multi-lingual access to the cultural heritage online with reports from current or recent projects in the UK and Europe
• Consider ways of providing access to the digital cultural heritage for tourism, research and by the creative industries.

Audience

The conference is expected to attract up to 200 delegates from the UK and across Europe including national digitisation experts, culture ministry officials, project officers and staff from cultural institutions. Please note that attendance at this conference is by invitation only.

Venue

The conference will take place at The Watershed in the historic city of Bristol. The Watershed is situated overlooking the floating harbour in the centre of the City.

The City of Bristol is perfectly situated with good transport links including close proximity to three motorways, two train stations and an international airport with direct flights throughout Europe.

For further information on the City of Bristol please visit: http://www.visitbristol.co.uk/

Accommodation

For delegates booking own accommodation, there is a comprehensive accommodation search facility at http://www.visitbristol.co.uk/

In addition to the hotels offered through this system, delegates wishing to make their own arrangements may find the following local hotels of interest:

Premier Travel Inn

There are two Premier Travel Inns in Bristol City Centre: Haymarket and King Street, so you can search for availability at either of these hotels at: http://www.premiertravelinn.com/pti/dropdownSearch.do

Jurys Bristol

http://www.jurys-bristol-hotels.com/jurys_bristol

Travelodge

http://www.travelodge.co.uk/find_a_hotel/hotel.php?hotel_id=78

Transport information

By Air direct to Bristol

As the journey from London to Bristol is approximately 3 hours we recommend that delegates should fly direct to Bristol International airport. There are direct flights to Bristol from over 35 European destinations, including major European hubs such as Amsterdam and Frankfurt.

Information on the airport can be found at:
http://www.bristolairport.co.uk/default.aspx

From Bristol Airport you can take the Shuttle bus into the centre of Bristol
http://www.bristolairport.co.uk/information/airportinfo/gettinghere/coach.aspx

A taxi to Bristol city centre will cost in the region of £15.

By air to London

If you travel by air to any of the London airports, you will need to continue your journey to Bristol:

There is a direct coach from London Heathrow to Bristol city centre which takes approximately 2 hours. This leaves from the Heathrow coach station. This is the quickest way into Bristol from London Heathrow.

From Heathrow, we recommend that you take the direct National Express coach from the central bus station direct to Bristol City Centre. This is the quickest way to travel to Bristol from Heathrow taking about 2 hours and costing about £32.

From Gatwick, you can take the Gatwick Express from the airport to Victoria railway station. You will then need to take the Underground from Victoria to Paddington railway station where you can take a direct train to Bristol. This will take you approximately 3 hours and could cost you up to £130.

From Stansted, you can take the Stansted Express from the airport to Liverpool Street railway station. You will then need to take the Underground from Liverpool Street to Paddington station where you can take a direct train to Bristol. This will take you approximately 3 1/2 hours and could cost you up to £130.

Information on the London Underground can be found at:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/

By train

There are two mainline train stations in Bristol, we recommend that you travel to Bristol Temple Meads which is in the city centre.. Trains run twice an hour from London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads and the journey takes approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes and a standard return ticket will cost £106.
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

By coach

The coach station in Bristol is right in the city centre and there are regular coaches from many parts of the UK including Heathrow airport.
http://www.nationalexpress.com/

By car

Road links to Bristol are excellent. The M4 and M5 motorways put both London and Birmingham within a two-hour drive; the M32 allows direct access from the M4 to the heart of the city.

Registration

Registration has now closed. Please note that attendance at this conference is by invitation only.

Enquiries

For any enquiries regarding the meeting, Bristol or the venue please contact Natasha Bishop at:

UKOLN
University of Bath,
Bath,
BA2 7AY
Tel: + 44 (0) 1225 38 6256
Fax: + 44 (0) 1225 38 6838
Email: events@ukoln.ac.uk

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