Searching and Accessing Materials in Roman Libraries

Two MinuteTutorials

(or less)

Extend Search

When you do the Extend Search, one option you can choose is to search the materials in Libraries in Rome.

This tutorial will give you a very brief overview of what you are searching when you come to this page.

Roman Libraries

Extend Search

When you click on SBN, you will be looking at the results of your search in the Servizio Bibliotecario Nazionale, the biggest bibliographic database in Italy, and it has the holdings of hundreds of Italian libraries, including many in Rome.

Extend Search

To find out if a specific book is available in a library in Rome, click on the record for the book that interests you, look under Localizzazioni, and find copies beginning with RM.

For example, this book is available at the Biblioteca nazionale centrale Vittorio Emanuele. You can click on the number for more information.

Some of the great libraries are in this database. For example, this is at the Biblioteca nazionale centrale, or the National Central Library of Rome, which has millions of books.

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Another choice is URBS, the Unione Romana Biblioteche Scientifiche or the Union of Roman Research Libraries, includes the holdings of specialized foreign research institutes, e.g. the American, the French, Dutch, Swedes, and so on.

Undergraduates are not allowed into all of these libraries, but you are allowed into many of them.

You will always need special access and permission to go to one of these libraries!

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The Centro Studi Americani, or the Center for American Studies, has materials that focus primarily on U.S. culture in the realms of literature, social, foreign policy and U.S.-Italian relations.

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The Roman Public Libraries or the Biblioteche di Roma, have primarily Italian-languages books of course, but they have some in English as well.

They are a good place for Italian fiction.

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The libraries of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies (the Italian national government) are open to the public and have many books on all aspects of politics as well as journalism and naturally, very strong in all aspects of Italian parliamentary history.

It has many special collections and is an immense resource.

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The catalog of URBE, the Unione Romana Biblioteche Ecclesiastiche, or the Union of Roman Ecclesiastical Libraries, allows you to search the catalogs of the many of the church institutions in Rome.

While the focus is on theology, there are also many materials on philosophy and social welfare.

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VIAF, or the Virtual International Authority File, provides different authorized forms used in several national catalogs, including the major English, French, German, Swedish, Czech, and Hebrew forms, but there are others as well, including Italian which is especially important for us.

By searching the VIAF for a name, you can find out what form you should use in an Italian catalog! But it’s unclear how complete the file is.

For the Italian form, choose the one with the Italian flag.

You can then search this form in the Italian catalogs such as SBN.

NOTE: DO NOT INCLUDE the dates in the search since it will not work.

The default search is simple keyword, for a more specific search, click on Exact Form

Extend Search

Before you go to any Roman Library, please contact the librarians first!

You may need special permission and in any case, we can make sure that someone will meet you who can show you how to use their libraries!

Roman Libraries

Two MinuteTutorials

(or less)

See also: Making CitationsGo to: List of Two-Minute Tutorials

Searching and Accessing Materials in Roman Libraries