MORAVSKA ZEMSKA KNIHOVNA V BRNE

Their core work

Moravská zemská knihovna v Brně (the Moravian Library) is one of the largest public and research libraries in the Czech Republic, serving as a major regional repository of scientific, cultural, and heritage collections. In the European research infrastructure space, MZK participated in the AARC initiative — a flagship effort to build federated identity and authorisation infrastructure that enables researchers across institutions and countries to access shared digital resources seamlessly. Their contribution to these projects reflects their role as an institutional user and requirements provider for library-based access within pan-European authentication systems. Beyond EU projects, MZK operates extensive digital preservation and open-access services covering Czech heritage and scientific literature.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Both of MZK's H2020 projects address exactly the same problem — federated authentication for research collaboration — first in AARC (2015-2017) and then in AARC2 (2017-2019), suggesting sustained commitment rather than any thematic shift. There is no data on EU project activity after 2019, making it unclear whether this direction has continued or whether MZK has returned to national library priorities. The available evidence points to a single, focused contribution window rather than a broadening research portfolio.

MZK's H2020 engagement was narrowly concentrated in research infrastructure authentication across 2015-2019; potential collaborators should verify directly whether this remains an active institutional priority before building consortium expectations around it.

How they like to work

MZK has always joined as a partner, never taking the coordinator role — consistent with a library acting as a specialist user and institutional requirements provider within larger technical consortia. Both projects involved broad, multi-country partnerships, indicating MZK is comfortable operating as one node in a complex network rather than steering the effort. This makes them a reliable but non-leading partner: valuable for geographic and sectoral breadth in a consortium, not for project management or technical leadership.

Across just two projects, MZK engaged with 30 unique consortium partners in 13 countries — a notably wide network relative to their small funding footprint, reflecting the inherently pan-European character of the AARC infrastructure projects. Their connections run deep into the European e-infrastructure and academic identity management community.

What sets them apart

MZK is one of very few library institutions in Central Europe to have participated directly in federated identity infrastructure projects, bridging the library sector and the technical e-infrastructure community in a way that purely technical partners cannot replicate. For consortium builders working on open science, research data access, or identity management, a national-level library brings authentic end-user use cases, established reader and researcher communities, and institutional credibility. Their specific value is as a validator of real-world library access needs — a perspective that strengthens the societal relevance of any research infrastructure proposal.

Highlights from their portfolio

• AARC
  The original AARC project established the federated authentication architecture now underpinning most European research infrastructure — MZK's participation introduced a library-sector perspective into that foundational design work.
• AARC2
  Continued involvement in the AARC follow-on project demonstrates sustained, non-opportunistic engagement with this infrastructure rather than a one-off appearance.