The aim of ELCONUM is to improve access to European works of art by creating an interface between scholars, cultural spheres and the general public, through the use of information technologies. To that end, the project proposes to focus on archival holdings and to develop a new model of collaborative production and dissemination of thematic digital resources. The scope of the study is the archival material on Algerian architecture kept in France, Italy and Spain, as the topic concentrates a number of issues calling for a cultural partnership at European level: the relevant sources are scattered among many institutions, they document buildings still extant in Algeria and as such represent an exceptional repository of knwoledge useful for the conservation and restoration initiatives of tangible heritage in Algeria that are currently supported by the European Commission. Such specific example only represents but one of the many applications that the workflow and tools developed by ELCONUM could have; at a later stage, they could include further European collections or target material related to other geographic areas. In order to stimulate public concern and ensure the sustainability of the digital thematic collection foreseen, the partners of the project, belonging to French, Italian and Spanish cultural institutions, will experiment a working method that intends to be both collaborative, creative and sustainable. The thematic collection built by scholars using material identified in national holdings will be open for crowdsourcing to people willing to enrich the data made available online or share private sources, while photographers will bring their own artistic eye on the buildings still preserved on site. In its second phase, the project will work at sharing and exploiting the enhanced thematic collection through innovative digital products in the field of art and architecture publishing : a virtual exhibition and ebook.