E-LIBRARY
-> ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
-> PUBLISHERS
-> ITALIAN JEWISH MUSEUMS
-> SPECIAL THANKS
We are in the process of digitizing 15,000 essays on a vast array of topics in Italian Jewish history, religion, literature, culture and traditions. Among the many treasures that will become accessible through this library is the complete collection of Rassegna Mensile di Israel, the prestigious journal founded in 1925.
TO KNOW MORE ABOUT DIGITAL LIBRARIES
Cornell Digital Library
The British Library
Jewish National University Library
Digital Library of Italian Literature
Italian National Libraries Digitalization Project
Council of Library and Information Resources
LDI grant for the Web-based course material archiving project: Functional Working Group
New York Public Library Digital Image Collection
Harvard Digital Initiatives
TREASURES HISTORY PROGRAMS NEWS HOME
The Centro Primo Levi began to consider the establishment of a Library of Italian Jewish Studies in response to the growing number of queries from scholars and the general public.
It soon became clear that in order to create a unique resource for scholars interested in the history and culture of the Jews of Italy, the Centro should undertake a thorough assessment of the current presence of books on Italian Jewish topics in United States libraries and an evaluation of the needs of the academic community in this area.
The preliminary results of the survey indicated that while mainstream publications in Italian Jewish studies are acquired routinely by a selected number of US libraries, very little of the research in progress, past and present, published in the form of essays, is available in print and even less so on line.
In Italy, the Centro Bibliografico of the Unione delle Comunità Ebraiche Italiane as well several congregational, private, and public archives have successfully created an important record of the history of Italian Jewry. But only very little of this work is easily accessible to international students.
Joining a still small number of groundbreaking library projects in the world, the current proposal for a Library of Italian Jewish Studies is designed to offer an extraordinary web-based resource that will allow historical literature across the centuries to be accessed with refined search tools. Automatic translators will be made available for the international users and subtantial outreach efforts to universities, scholars, and the public at large will help develop awareness of this resource and support Italian Jewish studies.
The Library in a nutshell
With the establishment of the Library of Italian Jewish Studies, the Centro Primo Levi will strive not to replicate the efforts of other institutions and libraries, but to integrate and enhance them in different ways:
- By offering an identifiable context of study and a forum of discussion, the library will serve as a platform to highlight the collection of Italian Jewish Studies preserved in other US public and university libraries.
- By producing gathering information from different universities, libraries, and research institutes and by offering constant bibliographycal updates, it will become a reference for librarians around the country.
- By concentrating on the acquisition and digitalization of classical essays and work-in-progress, it will become the leading web-based research library in Italian Jewish studies and a precious tool for scholars and educational institutions.