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European Information Hub

About us

Group photo of students holding a

The European Information Hub was re-launched in 2023 as part of the Special Collections and Archives team. We are located in the lower ground floor of the Arts and Social Studies Library. We are open by appointment only.

What is our mission?

The European Information Hub gathers expertise, provides specialist information and facilitates access to content on any dimension relating to Europe – its countries and regions, its complex realities, its national and supranational institutions (including the European Union), its relations with the rest of the world.

We support the study of European affairs at large, and the growing European dimension across different academic disciplines. We give stakeholders and citizens opportunities to connect with and find out about the European Union and the European dimension in our daily lives.

The Hub's three main areas of activity are:

  • research and teaching support
  • external cooperation and civic engagement
  • collection management

We are open to students and researchers from all institutions in the region as well as the general public, and in particular the local community. The activities of the European Union are the primary focus of the Hub, but we also facilitate access to information on all countries and regions of Europe and on other international organisations operating in Europe.

The History of the Hub

The Hub is the successor of  the European Documentation Centre at Cardiff University (Cardiff EDC), a longstanding information centre focused on the European Union. The EDC was set up in 1973 through an agreement between the university and the Commission of the European Communities (later European Commission), and it integrated an EU-wide network of European Documentation Centres across almost all EU Member States.

Following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union – which led to the termination of the agreement – the Library Service decided to revamp the service and to carry forward the mission of the EDC in supporting research and understanding on the many European dimensions across the different academic disciplines. In 2023, the European Information Hub was launched to continue the activities and engagement developed by the EDC over the years, including the development and management of the European Sources Online (ESO) information service.

From 1980 until 2017, the EDC was managed by Ian Thomson. Since then, Frederico Rocha has taken over as leading European information specialist.