Linked Heritage Glossary

A digital object is an entity in which one or more content files and their corresponding metadata are united, physically and/or logically, through the use of a digital wrapper. Digital objects (or digital materials) refer to any item that is available digitally.

In the context of the Europeana aggregation landscape, digital objects can be generally referred to as content. Any data about content is encoded into metadata. According to Europeana Data Exchange Agreement, each digital object (and the associated preview) that is available via Europeana needs to carry a rights label that describes its copyright status. Data providers grant Europeana the right to publish previews provided to Europeana. Previews may not be re-used by third parties unless the rights label related to the object allows such re-use (See: Europeana Available Rights Statements).

Explore further the Linked Heritage learning object: Digitisation life cycle

See also: Content, Data, Data Exchange Agreement (DEA), Metadata