ORTELIUS
The Data Base on Higher Education in Europe
- The project and its history
- Contents : a definition of the information units
- Users and their information requirements
- Access to the system
- List of members
Ortelius, the database on higher education in Europe, was
created in 1994, at the instigation of the Commission of the
European Union, following an official call for tender for the
creation of a database opened to member states by the
Commission (through its Task Force for Human Resources,
Education, Training and Youth) in February 1992.
The EU (Commission commited itself to promoting and financing
this initiative for several reasons, the foremost of which
being the need to consolidate European student mobility and to
bridge yhe information gaps hindering this, by now, undelayable
process.
The Commission's objective is that the database should be a
concrete, reliable and accessible tool which will facilitate
information flows between institutes, pubic bodies, students,
teaching staff, researchers, and enterprises. The function of
the database is also to ccordinate communication between
participants in Community programmes in matters of Education
and Training
(Erasmus,
Lingua, Tempus) and to strengthen
Naric, the network of National Information Centres for
the recognition of diplomas and study periods spent abroad.
All thios has led to this wide-ranging initiative which
encompasses the European higher education sector as a whole,
and which will have to provide an efficient information service
that will be capable of meeting the information needs of a
large and varied group of users who are becoming increasingly
interested inthe mobility and cooperation process.
In December 1993, the task of creating a database was entrusted
to an Italian Consortium, composed of two public institutions
(the Universita degli Studi di Firenze and the
Biblioteca di Documentazione Pedagogica and two
private companies (Olivetti and the Giunti Multimedia
publishing house).
Information needs were identified, following a series of
interviews with different catagories of privileged users and a
prelimilary survey on the high level of information readership
in Europe. It was felt that there was a need to go beyond a
mere description of the system and its structure to a more in-
depth view of its programmes and contents. There was also an
emphasis on the necessity for practical information on day-to-
day living which would help those involved in mobility to
better master the channels and tools that will enable them to
participate.
The definition of the information to collect and introduce into the database has been based on the following criteria :
- information must permit the greatest level of mutual knowledge, in order to facilitate mobility and cooperation,
- information must respect the diversities but, at the same time, wherever necessary, strive to find the lowest common denominators on which mutual communication can be based.
The decriptions should make it possible for comparisons to be made between the national systems of each country so that contacts and synergies can be found for study and research projects.
Following this criteria, six sets of information have been defined to take into account the specific types of higher education available in each country, and their context, without losing sight of the basic legal framework of the EU.
The information sets are :
- the European Union : laws, regulations, actions ;
- the country and its higher education system
- the town, location of higher education institutions
- the higher education institutions in each town (1)
- the qualifications which are awarded and the relevant curricula ;
- courses description
(1) The types of higher education institutes concerned in this database are those defined within the context of the Socrates Community programme as "higher education institutes which award higher level qualification".
...
...
...
- Belgium (flemish)
- Wim FRANCOIS
Belgishe Eurydice-Benheid (Vlaamse Gernenschap)
Ministerie van de Vlaamse Gemenschap
Email:
- Belgium (french speaking community)
- Alice COLIN
Direction Générale de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique
Email:
- Denmark
- Jette KIRSTEIN
Sekretariat of the Danish Rector's Conference
E-mail : Jette.Kirstein@uvm.min.dk
- France
- Jean-Francois CHENIN
ONISEP
Email: euronet@worldnet.fr
- Greece
- John PANARETOS
Athens University of Economy andBusiness, Dept of Statistics
Email:ibp@d.aueb.ariadne-t.gr
- Ireland
- Gerard O'SULLIVAN
Higher Education Authority
Email: Gerry@HEA.IE
- Netherlands
- John E. HAGEN
NUFFIC
Email:
- Portugal
- Alfonso COSTA
Departemento Do Ensino Superior
Email:
- United Kingdom (England, Wales, North Ireland)
- Ralph TABERER
NFER
Email: nfer@vmsfe.ulcc.ac.uk
- (Scotland)
- Hope JOHNSTON
Scottish Ofice Education Department
Email:
- German Federal Republic
- Gerdi JONEN
Sekretariat der Ständigen Konferenz des Kultusminister der
Länder in der Bundesrepublic Deutschland
Email:
- Spain
- José Maria de LUXÁN MELÉNDEZ
Consejo de Universidades
Email:
We congratulate
- Isabelle Limes ; euronis@worldnet.net si
for useful help.
Copyright © 1995, 1996
AdmiNet
Send comments to
cs