Report on first phase of the HARMONICA project
A report on the first phase of the HARMONICA project has recently been published. The project, funded within the libraries sector of EU's Telematics Applications programme, aims to provide a solid, strategic framework to improve access through libraries to music collections of different types, while taking into account the needs of various groups of users in the evolving world of networked information and multimedia. The first phase, which lasted for ten months, provided an overview of the current situation in preparation for defining in more detail the work to be carried out over the next two years. This first period was therefore in effect a mapping exercise which set out to describe the state-of-the-art in the three sectors covered. These sectors include catalogues and collections, user needs and interface requirements and networking and digitisation. The principle methodology employed was to draw together existing studies and surveys where possible. A number of additional surveys were also conducted. The report contains details of the project deliverables under the three sectors covered in the first phase. Other aspects such as problems faced and decisions taken are also discussed. The impact of the results to date, and dissemination activities including the establishment of a Website are also dealt with. The second part of the report is devoted to a summary of the management and status of the project, discussing the work to be undertaken during the period of the project and exploitation plans for the results.