Reference Department

General information

Located on the ground floor of the library between the Distribution hall and the Catalogue hall, the department follows the same general opening hours as the library.

The department provides information on library services, carries out library research and provides users with indications on the library tools best suited to their particular research needs. It is responsible for providing assistance in using library resources, and oversees the Catalogue hall and the consultation of all printed catalogues.
It has a library system for general research (bibliographical directories, Italian retrospective bibliography, periodical directories), which is freely available for access from the department itself.

In addition to the Catalogue hall, the Reference Department is also responsible for the
Information Department.

Cerco un libro...: the reference system

“Cerco un libro…” (I’m looking for a book…) is the title of an 1899 article in which Desiderio Chilovi, the then-director of our library, reflected on how librarians serve as a mediator between library collections and users. This consideration was based on the conviction that libraries should not only serve as repositories for the items they safeguard, but as organisations for research and study, ensuring rightful access to information.

The aim of the reference service is, as Chilovi suggested, to serve as a mediator between users requiring information and the wealth of material in the collections, and embraces all the activities carried out by librarians in helping users find what they are looking for. The goals are to identify the most suitable sources for consultation, the best way to use the catalogues and collections, and methods for developing processes that lead to the acquisition of related information.

In addition to providing library research and study support services (both remotely and in person), the Reference Department also receives a wide range of requests from users regarding the library’s collections and services.

Reproductions

The Reproductions ervice handles requests for reproductions of the documentation held by the library.

Users are directed to the relative sector on the basis of the information they provide with the dedicated form accessible from the Ask the librarian area. The Reference Department is responsible for requests for reproductions of antique and modern printed material from 1501 onwards.

Requests cannot be submitted by telephone.

Copies can be made with users’ instruments in accordance with the provisions of article 108 of the Italian Code of Cultural Heritage, and with legislation related to copyright, in compliance with the Regulations governing the reproduction of materials.

The Catalogue hall

The Catalogue hall holds the physical catalogues, which reflect the origins and later development of the library. Physical reference cards are used to locate items in all cases in which the relative information cannot be found in the library records and therefore needs to be entered manually.

The Reference Department is responsible for providing assistance in consulting the catalogues.

The Catalogue hall is also equipped with 12 information points and 36 reading points (for consulting modern materials), which are available for use by the public.

The catalogues are divided into two series, general and special (the latter is situated in the antechamber that leads into the main hall).

General catalogues:

• Catalogue by author or title of anonymous works. This catalogue was established in1886 with the issuing of the Bulletin of Italian publications received under legal deposit by the National Central Library of Florence, a document that later became the Italian National Bibliography. Ordered alphabetically by author, or by title in the case of anonymous works, it lists works published in Italy and received under legal deposit (1886-1983), foreign monographs in the collection, and any works obtained through acquisition, donation or exchange up to 1988.
• Catalogue by subject. Ordered alphabetically by subject, this catalogue is divided into two sections: 1925-1957 and 1958-1983.
• Catalogue of periodicals. This lists all the periodicals obtained in various manners by the library between 1874 to 1989. Periodicals dating back to before 1874 can be searched for in the Palatina and Magliabechiana catalogues. The catalogue of periodicals is in alphabetical order by publication title, and publications of the same name are ordered by the place in which they were printed.
• Classified catalogue. Listing works printed between 1967 and 1983, it is organised in accordance with the Dewey Decimal Classification system.

Special catalogues:

• The Magliabechiana catalogue. In alphabetical order by author, it lists the works included in the library’s founding collection (the Magliabechiana Library) and those acquired up to 1885.
• The Palatina catalogue. In alphabetical order by author, it lists the works held by the Palatina Lorenese Library, which, together with the Magliabechiana Library, represent the historical core collection of the library. It also contains the index cards for the collections that were merged with the National Library over the course of the final decades of the Nineteenth century (1875 Nencini; 1877 Passerini; 1890 Capretta; 1894 Targioni Tozzetti; 1866-1867 Library obtained in the wake of the suppression of the Oratorians). The entire catalogue has been digitalised (Digitalised version of the Palatina catalogue).
• Catalogue of engravings. It lists the individual engravings or series of engravings held in the various founding collections. It is ordered both by etcher – alphabetically, with references to the names of artists, chalcographers, printmakers and publishers -, and by subject.
• Catalogue of maps. It is ordered by geographic area and by maker. An index of geographic areas is available, ordered by nation and, for Italy, by region and province.
• Catalogue of 16th-century publications. This catalogue consists of a single alphabetical series of index cards for publications from the 1500s that are either part of founding collections or are later acquisitions.

Additional information

Established as part of the library in 1958, the Reference Department was an early interpretation of the user support services that would later be implemented by the 1967 Organic Regulations for State Public Libraries (art. 67 of Presidential Decree no. 1501 of 5 September 1967).

Its responsibilities were extended in the wake of the 1966 flood. The extraordinary work carried out to enable the library to reopen to the public in January 1968 included the restoration of the catalogues which, despite not having been completed, allowed them to once again be accessible to scholars, and permitted the recommencement of information and research activities, which were enhanced with the reproductions service, currently considered to be one of the aspects that best characterises the department.

The Reference Department features a version in bronze-effect terracotta of the bust of Antonio Magliabechi, who almost seems to be overlooking the activities taking place. The bust is less-well-known than the work in marble by Antonio Montauti (1685-1740), which is renowned for its position on the staircase leading to the Specialist halls on the first floor, and for the unsparing realism with which the features of the famous Florentine scholar were depicted.

Contacts

Supervisor
Simona Mammana
bnc-fi.info@cultura.gov.it
tel. (+39) 055/24919 96-97

Useful links

• Italian Code of Cultural Heritage
• Regulations governing the reproduction of materials