In many areas the technologies are still relatively immature, including multimedia navigation, resource location tools, standards for preserving multimedia objects, with links between the various components. Archival institutions have experienced an increasing demand for new services, based on new views of the collections. The development of new alliances for distribution and promotion of the resources is an issue to be answered. In order to make the content more accessible, the language barriers that exist between the different regions and countries of Europe, need to be reduced. Since the invention of photography in 1839, photographs offer a reflection in black and white or in colour of our cultural heritage.
Photos speak an universal language.
The public interest in multimedia and visual information has increased. Since relatively recently, various institutes, both in the private and in the public sector, have started to improve accessibility of their collections by digitising them. Digitizing the photographic collections of public historical archives will offer the European citizens litterally a view of the past'. In Europe, the state of preservation of the collections vary and so does the degree of accessibility. In general there is no standard description for historical photo collections according to archival standards.