Europeana, Europe’s digital library, has launched its first free iPad app. “Europeana Open Culture” introduces the public to hand-picked and beautiful collections from some of Europe’s top institutions, and allows people to explore, share and comment on them. The 350,000 images available through the app come from collections of museums, libraries and other institutions in Bulgaria, Estonia, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Designed during a Europeana hackathon “Hack4Europe!”, the app provides an easy introduction to Europe’s glorious art treasury through five themes: Maps and Plans, Treasures of Art, Treasures of the Past, Treasures of Nature and Images of the Past. “Europeana Open Culture” presents stunning visual collections from Europeana.eu with large images – great for those smaller details – and a “comment” option that opens up the possibility for dialogue between many people exploring the same images.

The home screen on the Europeana Open Culture app

More information: http://blog.europeana.eu/2013/06/europeana-releases-first-free-ipad-app/.

Download the app from iTunes: itunes.apple.com/nl/app/europeana/id646414251.