IF YOU ARE curious about higher education in Europe, then Ortelius is the man for you. A 16th-century cartographer who put together the first modern atlas, Abraham Ortelius lives on in the name of a European higher-education database, which can be accessed via the Internet.

The core element of the database is a description of undergraduate (certificate, diploma and degree) and postgraduate courses in all 15 EU states, according to the Higher Education Authority, the Irish partner in the venture. There are 57 institutions listed for Ireland, including the universities, the DIT, the RTCs, the colleges of education and private colleges that offer NCEA qualifications.

The information is broken down under five headings: biomedical, humanities, social sciences, physical sciences and technological science. Common terminology is used throughout the database, so course titles may not be exactly the same as in the college literature.

As well as the main database, there are a number of satellite databases containing information on EU programmes in the area of education and training, EU legislation, agreements between colleges regarding mobility, a bibliography, and a description of the national higher-education system in each state.

The information is almost complete - entries from Finland, Austria and Sweden, the newer entrants to the EU, are not yet complete.

The Italian consortium which developed the database comprises the University of Florence, the Education Documentation Library, the Olivetti computer company and Giunti Multimedia publishing company. At present the database can be accessed free of charge; however, the free-access period ends on October 31st. A single subscription will cost 400 ECU (about £260) and group access will cost 1,000 ECU for each group of four passwords.

The database's development was financed by the EU. Henceforward will be self-financing and the subscriptions will be used to update the information twice a year.