The Pre-History of the European Library: The British Library and TEL

Abstract

TEL (The European Library) had its origins in a project to set up a virtual European Library. Five years later this became a reality when the European Commission funded a programme, minus its technological development. Coupled with their insistence that TEL should develop rapidly into an operational service, this made for an inherent weakness in the project. Within the British Library, at times TEL sat uneasily vis-à-vis other priorities and activities but, in the end, it was successfully delivered and now is functioning as The European Library.