Portal

A portal (also web portal) is an entry page on the Internet that allows users to access content, data or applications centrally.

A central feature is the connection or data exchange with other, heterogeneous applications, e.g. databases. The data provided can then be accessed via a homogeneous user interface (portal), usually without logging in.

The playout of data in a portal is common, for example, in the area of culture. For example, cultural objects from institutions can be recorded decentrally and autonomously via different database systems. By supplying a portal, different institutions can present objects together on one platform.

The portal kulturerbe.niedersachen.de, for example, is a platform for presenting cultural heritage objects from the memorial institutions in Lower Saxony. What is special here is that many of the museums use a central solution in the network for recording. Since the acquisition database kuniweb is web-based, the different institutions can manage objects independent of location. The autonomy of the institutions is preserved by the rights management.

Established national and international portals in the field of culture also include DDB and Europeana.