The Open and Hybrid Publishing project ‘Photomediations’ is an experimental design pilot in the domains of Education, Research, Leisure and Tourism, exploring different scenarios of content re-use in the six thematic areas defined by Europeana Space (CIP Best Practice Network - project number 621037). The specific aim of the project is to explore the possibilities of developing and embracing different forms and modes of publishing at a time whenthe traditional publishing model is being challenged by different ways of reading on portable devices, the wide digitisation of cultural resources, and the increased ease and speed of their electronic distribution.

The principal approach of the pilot was to explore a model for ‘open and hybrid publishing’ and to encourage various parties – students,educators, artists, curators, independent publishers, cultural heritage managers – to become involved in the process of collaborative publishing. Openness was a core aspect of this pilot. The online version of the book was built with open source code, and the images drawn from various online repositories of open access material. Promoting the socially significant issues of ‘open access’, ‘open scholarship’ and ‘open education’, the project offers a low-cost hybrid publishing model as an alternative to the increasingly threatened traditional publishing structures.

The book’s four main chapters are followed by three ‘open’ chapters, which can be populated with further content by a variety of users, after the launch of the book. Through a variety of exercises and an open exhibition, the aim has also been to promote the creative reuse of the available cultural resources - including those from Europeana - while also drawing attention to the complex issue of copyright when it comes to publishing photographic images. In an attempt to visualize the hybridity of the publishing platforms, the landing page is designed to evoke a set of book spines, while the navigation around the book mimics a traditional page turning experience.