CORDIS Archive

Extracts from Country and Regional Studies: Italy

Policy and Organisational Framework :

There are about 5,000 municipal public libraries which often also act as stimulus and support to wider cultural activities. The National Library Service Project ( Servizio Bibliotecario Nazionale - SBN) initiated by the Ministry of Culture took as its starting point that the intelligent use of automation and the related sharing of resources might overcome the existing complexities of the Italian library structure and the lack of legislation for this sector.

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Notable changes to traditional public library services :

Retrospective conversion of catalogues using mainly the CD-ROMs of the Italian National Bibliography is being carried out in about 100 libraries.

LAN networks are being introduced, thus optimising user services and management procedures by creating greater integration. There are however only few examples of collaboration between libraries and the local organisations to which they belong.

About 1,000 public libraries have introduced automation, using small or medium sized, international, national or in-house systems. The main development is the on-line catalogue available to users in about 300 public libraries.

Optical registration of collections has been started in about 10 public libraries for conservation purposes.

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New services in Public Libraries :

Some libraries have started to offer on-line access to databases for a fee. Brescia Public Library offers users access to the OCLC First Search Service with direct invoicing and searching from home. The Schio library targets users from the business and financial sector by offering access to legislative and European data bases.

About 30 public libraries have access to the Internet.

About 20 public libraries offer users access to (mostly bibliographic) CD-ROMs.

OPAC developments include improved search facilities and the change to graphic interfaces. Libraries which are part of the SBN project convert their catalogues to UNIMARC and implement the www OPAC. Other libraries use ZETESIS, which allows the creation of a unified catalogue for different types of materials including multi-media. By the end of 1996 many libraries are expected to have introduced OPAC services for the public as a matter of routine.

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Inspiring examples of Public Libraries:

• The Trisi Municipal Library of Lugo has a network of 10 PCs for cataloguing, acquisitions, circulation and OPAC, 4 multi-media work stations for access to the civic network RACINE, Internet, e-mail, CD-ROM and the special information service 'Informagiovani' for young people, and 2 multi-media stations for the blind with Braille keyboard and vocal synthesis. In co-operation with the education authorities 2,500 multi-media titles are available on loan for teaching activities. A router connection allows schools, institutions and citizens access to electronic information produced by the towns, electronic mail, discussion groups and the SBN catalogue.
  Further information from bibtrisilug@ra.nettuno.it
• The Queriniana Library in Brescia offers access to its OPAC, the SBN catalogue and those of other libraries of the province of Brescia, as well as the Internet and bibliographic databases. There are 6 CD-ROM work stations.
  Further information from the director Aldo Pirola, Tel. +39-30-29 83 497, Fax: +39-30-24 00 359
• The Panizzi Library , Reggio Emilia offers access to the OPAC, the national SBN catalogue, CD-ROM, Internet. Special software programmes are used for cataloguing records, photographs, posters, notes, manuscripts, maps, AV, films.
  Further information from panizzi@comune.re.it .
• The public library of Bagno a Ripoli (Florence), as well as offering OPAC and CD-ROM, is engaged in a project with the university of Siena in creating a www information service on women's studies.
  Further information from giaccai@mailserver.idg.fi.cnr.it

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Main barriers to development:

Administrative and institutional barriers within the local administrations are marked by rigid structures and long delays in decision making, hindering efficient and speedy development and actions such as for example hiring external consultants. The legal situation does not encourage collaboration between libraries belonging to different types of administration.

The budget to introduce new technology is often inadequate and not ensured over a longer period, making continuity and maintenance of systems very difficult.

The scarcity of staff in general and with specialist qualifications in particular limits the introduction of IT, as does the unsuitability of many historic buildings.

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Professional development of public librarians:

The urgent need for modern training programmes relating to IT has been recognised, but the situation is still under discussion. The main emphasis in library education remains on the conservation of the cultural heritage, but a number of universities offer degree courses that include topics in the field of informatics. Private universities are starting to innovate education for librarians with courses such as 'Managing the introduction and use of new technology' or 'Search strategies in Internet' . There is however no systematic up-dating and continuing education programme for librarians.

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Regional co-operation:

• The Trentino Library System consists of a network of 120 public, academic and special libraries co-operating on cataloguing and inter-library loans. Recently co-operation on acquisitions, electronic document ordering and the consultation of university texts has been agreed. The province and the post office have concluded an agreement on delivery methods and prices for inter-library lending.
• Intersistema Novate Milanese unites 20 libraries in 16 towns in access to the union catalogue, inter-library lending, shared acquisitions with joint funding, co-operation with the publisher Mondadori on indexing children's publications. The establishment of a joint centre for co-ordination and management has resulted in lowering the unit costs for cataloguing and loans. Changes to technology (the structure of the network) and institutional framework (e.g. a consortium) are under discussion.
• The Library System of Abano Terme (Padova) consists of a consortium of 27 municipal libraries that co-ordinate cataloguing, ILL and staff training. Plans include the use of e-mail for reservations, the creation of a union catalogue on CD-ROM, the transfer of the local network to a UNIX machine and the connection with the SBN node of Padova.

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The telematics market place:

Public libraries are a market for Italian firms, who develop user-friendly interface software. They increasingly make use of services offered by firms specialised in retrospective cataloguing or the merging of catalogues, and in professional up-dating and training. Increasingly public libraries are also buyers for multi-media stations, LANs and even UNIX systems.

The opening of the new central library with the launch of several important

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