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italian-studies: Scholarly discussions in any field of Italian studies Attention all colleagues in Scotland or likely to be in Edinburgh on Oct 17th - the presentation is of interest to anyone researching in the field of early modern Italy/Europe - so please also draw to the attention of colleagues in the various branches of Historical Studies. National Library of Scotland - Presentation October 17th 2008 In the Board Room, George IV Bridge building, Edinburgh EH1 1EW. 12-2 pm Presentation of Research resource in the field of Early Modern Italy - culture, history and society. 'Reconstructing the Intellectual Network in Late-Renaissance and Early-Modern Italy: the Italian Academies Database' (AHRC/Royal Holloway/British Library) The Italian Academies 1530-1700: a themed collection database. http://www.rhul.ac.uk/italian/Research/ItalianAcademiesPortal.html Presented by Prof. Jane Everson (RHUL); Mr. Denis Reidy (BL); and Dr. Simone Testa and Dr.Lorenza Gianfrancesco (Research Assistants RHUL/BL). The presentation will be of interest to academics, researchers and librarians in many fields including: History, Art History, Philosophy, Politics, European Literatures, Languages, Music, Drama, History of Science, Geography, Women's Studies. This AHRC Resource enhancement project, now at the beginning of its third year, aims to enhance access to resources for research on the Italian learned Academies of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The interests of the Academies ranged widely across the disciplines, from art and literature to the experimental sciences, often within a single Academy. They were responsible for promoting interest and research in many areas, e.g. language, natural sciences, astronomy, technology, the humanities, arts and music. This range of interests and the very large number of Academies active in Italy in the period makes the study of them central to our understanding of and research on Renaissance and early modern culture in Italy and beyond, as well as the construction of the European Republic of Letters. Many of the finest holdings of publications produced by Italian Academies and their members are located in the British Library. Much of this material is catalogued in ways which do not permit easy access by scholars working on a particular Academy or on Academies in general. Thus a significant volume of relevant research data is currently hidden from view and may be overlooked in research. The creation of a Themed Collection of data relating to Academies aims to overcome this obstacle and open up the Library's holdings to new research. In the Panel we shall explain the origins and development of the project to date, its aims and objectives, future developments etc. We shall also demonstrate the themed collection, web-based, catalogue which we are developing and show how it can be used by scholars to access, quickly and easily, material of interest to their research. In view of our aim of expanding the project after the conclusion of the first three-year phase, in order to include the holdings of other major libraries, we are keen to bring the project to the notice of scholars and librarians as widely as possible. For further information about the project and the on-line catalogue, please refer to the web address at the top. The project is directed by Professor Jane Everson of the Department of Italian (School of Modern Languages) at Royal Holloway University of London, in collaboration with the British Library. In the current phase we are developing an on-line catalogue of books held in the British Library published by Italian Academies in the period 1530 to 1700 (the original end date has been extended in view of the rich materials relating to the later 17th century). This is potentially a very large project. At present it is focussed on Academies in the cities of Naples, Siena, Bologna and Padua. In the future, and depending on funding, we hope to extend the coverage to other cities and the holdings of other major libraries. Jane E.Everson Professor of Italian Literature School of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures Royal Holloway University of London Egham TW20 0EX tel. 01784 443236 ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join italian-studies YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave italian-studies to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/italian-studies.html