Everybody loves the digital library – maybe too much

The crash of the European Union's new Europeana digital library is both good and bad news. It's unfortunate that the technology was not quite ready to go. But it's wonderful to think that 10 million users an hour were so keen to access library material.

Europeana was launched last month and then had to be shut down within hours when powerful user demand swamped its system. It is expected to relaunch in January, reports AFP.

"We are doing our utmost to reopen Europeana in a more robust version as soon as possible," says the Europeana website.

The online collection of Europe's cultural heritage was launched on November 21. Europeana will allow users anywhere to access books kept in European libraries as well as films, paintings, photographs, sound recordings, maps, manuscripts, newspapers, and documents.

Europeana will reopen soon, the group's website promises, "linking you to 3.5 million digital treasures."