This paper will look at a practical application of collection level description as a means of improving access to analogue and digital collections. Collection level description services provide a way of discovering the rich collections of physical objects, books, archives, digital resources, digital surrogates and of learning objects that are held by libraries, museums, archives and others. They may perhaps provide a way of bridging collections held across Europe. Participants at CAA will be familiar with the use of resource discovery metadata to offer network access to digital collections - and familiar with the difficulties in finding and locating analogue collections. Collection level descriptions provide a common framework for describing collections of all types (object, physical archive, book, digital resource, learning object) and a means of discovering their location, content and access arrangements. The HEIRNET register provides an example of a collection level description service enabling researchers and cultural heritage managers to discover collections held by multiple content providers across the UK.
Key words: Collections, Resource discovery, Metadata, Access, Standards