Goals
EMEL facilitates access to global cultural heritage as preserved in ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance manuscripts and other historical source materials.

To this end, EMEL—

• Pioneers new technologies to create faithful digital surrogates of the text and art of early manuscripts and other historical source materials.
• Undertakes onsite digitization projects in libraries around the world. EMEL gives priority to projects that add to the historical record by digitizing manuscripts that are difficult to access or not fully cataloged.
• Provides access to digital images according to agreements with holding libraries.

Methods
Building Collaborations
EMEL builds alliances among libraries, research centers, and universities. EMEL projects respect the interests of the libraries that hold original materials and add value by assisting in conservation, collections management and scholarly access. Institutions holding manuscripts share in all project results.

Each EMEL project benefits from the participation of internationally recognized experts in the relevant languages and technologies. EMEL builds alliances with research institutions to ensure that the results of its projects are accessible to researchers and students, according to agreements with the holding libraries.

Capturing Images

EMEL fields teams to digitize manuscripts and other historical source materials onsite. In all imaging projects, EMEL seeks to:

• Implement best practices for materials handling to ensure the preservation of fragile historical sources.
• Achieve the highest standards for image quality and fidelity to the original.
• Manage image files in conformity with best practices for the conservation of electronic data.

Publishing Catalog Data

EMEL collaborates with holding libraries and educational institutions to prepare online catalogs that conforms to emerging standards for electronic catalogs of manuscripts. Information about the contents and provenance of manuscripts is provided by the holding institution or compiled through cataloging projects sponsored by EMEL or project partners.

Educating the Public

EMEL provides the general public with opportunities to learn about early manuscripts and how they revolutionize our understanding of history. These include: the EMEL newsletter; articles and sample images here on the EMEL website; public lectures and symposia by scholars; and presentations for congregations, schools and community organizations.