Search

In order to evaluate the scientific products of the Italian legal scholarship and make them comparable with the outputs in other scientific areas, some institutional actors have proposed to classify different scientific works (monographs, articles, notes etc.), publishers and journals. Part of learned societies in legal area have published a joint "Document on evaluation" (October 1, 2010) about methods and criteria that should be applied by various institutional organizations for several purposes. The aim of this paper is to offer a critique of that document, as well as to suggest that digital technologies (in particular, Open Access to science) might play a prominent role in the evaluation of products in the legal science field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digitization project Giving a new voice to sources. Communicate humanistic research for all aims to make available to the scientific community the audio archive of the Bruno Kessler Foundation's Library, which preserves the recordings of the conference activities of the two humanistic research centers of the Foundation. The project represents, at least in Italy, one of the first attempts to realize a virtual space devoted to audio archival sources researchable freely online to avoid the deterioration of a cultural heritage of extremely scientific relevance, leading to its conservation and availability. The deterioration of the analogue media of the archival collection makes the digitization a matter of survival which allows a diffusion otherwise unthinkable. The accessibility to the audio archival sources allows for enlarging the number of scholars and students that can benefit from the collection for the research. It also allows general users to approach the cultural contents of the humanities. The paper aims to describe the goals, the phases of realization of the project, the methodological problems due to the critical issues of the material supports, the descriptive analysis of the contents, and the opening of the database. The first part of the essay describes the history of the audio archive of the library. This archive covers an extensive period from 1974 to the new Millennium and is composed of the reels and compact audio cassette. The second part analyses the phases of work of the project, from the preliminary analysis of the support to the conversion and the digital reworking. The last part is dedicated to the method adopted in the compilation of metadata of the files and to the description of the structure of the database, as well as his research functions and the descriptive scheme of each audio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we reported the list of nocturnal macromoth collected during one year of sampling in a territory delimited by Alli and Simeri rivers, on the south-eastern slope of the Sila Massif, Calabria. Ten sites representative of the main forest types, mainly thermophilous oaks and riparian forests, were investigated at an altitude between 90 and 650 m a.s.l. One UV LED light trap was positioned in each site, activated monthly during the same night, from June 2019 to April 2021. Altogether we collected 20,366 specimens belonging to 429 species. Most abundant species were those linked to the forest cover by the feeding habit of larvae (Eupithecia dodoneata, Cyclophora puppillaria, Watsonalla uncinula, and Catocala sp.pl.) or those without strict ecological preferences (Peribatodes rhomboidaria, Idaea filicata, I. degeneraria, Eilema caniola). The finding of the following species has great biogeographical interest: Cryphia receptricula, found for the first time in Calabria, Aegle agatha, known in Italy for three localities so far, Horisme exoletata, so far reported in peninsular Italy in this area only, Denticucullus pygmina and Orectis cfr. proboscidata, so far collected in Calabria in only one locality. Furthermore, 44 species were collected for the first time in the Sila Massif and 7 for the first time along the Ionian Coast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the nowadays world characterized by complexity, the digital systems for archival and bibliographic description are, especially in Italy, a faithful mirror of too many horizontal (among bodies with national functions) and vertical (among central and peripheral levels) complications. The integration of data sets conceived according to the up-to-date conceptual domain models would simplify the dynamics of representation, improve user experiences, and optimize the environmental costs of computing infrastructures. The concepts to be shared should relate to agents (individual or collective), places, and chronological data, deepening on how to address the more complex issues opened by things. This paper introduces three possible scenarios of semantic cooperation between archivists and librarians, not necessarily alternative: activating a conceptual matching through common entities, relying on a neutral semantic data infrastructure such as Wikidata, or, finally, developing a transversal core ontology. Hoping that disciplinary boundaries will not impede cooperation, two types of impediments must be considered: the organizational one (bottom-up, top-down, or a virtuous synergy between the two organizational models?) and the crucial issue of offering easy-to-use interfaces to end users, not only constituted by software agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 13rd October 2016 the Chiostergi-Tuscher archive and library, originating from the heirs' house located in France (Saint-Cergues Les Voirons), was transferred to the Centro cooperativo mazziniano "Pensiero e Azione" in Senigallia. The paper reports about how this remarkable heritage of Chiostergi-Tuscher was retrieved and returned to Italy after thirty years. The collection includes correspondences, letters, diaries, documents, journals and papers, pictures, books, posters and other archival and bibliographic materials of great historical value to learn about the political, civic and cultural activities of Giuseppe Chiostergi (1899-1961), anti-fascist, member of the Italian Constituent Assembly and of Parliament, ambassador, pro-European and statesman, friend and correspondent to leading Italian and European personalities in the 20th century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The indication of the food origin is one of the most important tools to ensure the protection of consumers and farmers. It is also very important to maintain and enhance rural landscape, especially in Italy and within agri-food productions with geographical indications. The strong link in terms of identity and culture between the territory and these products, a heritage preserved by farmers from generation to generation, is apparently intangible, but actually, it emerges in the fields configuration and in the traditional landscape features. Supporting agri-food production with deep territorial and cultural origins, means promoting a model anchored in local economies and rural communities. However, the risk of losing this heritage is still real, especially in our country and despite the several tools of protection and promotion in the agri-food sector. In this paper, the author shows the authenticity of the link between landscape and agri-food products through the analysis of a Piedmont case and the spatial analysis of the geographical context and territorial relationship (protection, naturalness, visual integrity and accessibility). In addition, the paper suggests some technical and political issues that can contribute to the debate on the heritage integrated vision, considered also as a potential lever of development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last twenty years, the historiography on cathedral chapters in southern Italy has not made much progress, in contrast to central-northern Italy, which now reveals a fair number of studies and a more marked interest in the subject in its various aspects. In addition, the uneven distribution of sources, if not, at times, their absence, and the erudite approach of investigation with its consequent scarce circulation in the scientific field contribute to this imbalance. This paper provides the first results on the characteristics of the clergy of Bari cathedral from the origins of the diocese until the end of the Norman age and illustrates some aspects of the process that led to the birth of the cathedral chapter in the second half of the 12th century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at reconsidering the archaeological interpretation of the Cittanova area (northern Italy) by analysing new stratigraphic data collected in its surroundings and along the Via Emilia towards the city of Modena. New elements are presented to discuss the traditional interpretation of this important historical and archaeological site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to provide an overview of the 61. National congress of the Italian library association "Librarians, the most beautiful job in the world. Also in Italy?" (online, November 25-26, 2021). Numerous speakers from the professional sphere and the university context participated in the congress, many of whom belong to AIB commissions and observers. The most significant issues that emerged from the speeches were reported, but we are aware of the impossibility of returning their rich content. In the conclusions, a reflection is proposed on the need to address the critical issues of the profession and libraries through different perspectives, overcoming self-referentiality and thus reaching a rich and profound knowledge of our sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a synthesis of the most significant paths and problems of research in Italy, in the second half of the twentieth Century, seen through an autobiographical testimony. We speak of internal changes, due to the evolution of methodologies: the renewal of tools and methods, after the autarchic parenthesis of the first half of the Century; the intrusion of information technology into the organization and analysis of linguistic data; the openness to the problems of a rapidly changing society, with the sociolinguistic approach; the contrasts and mediations between structuralism and historicism. But we also speak, at the same time, of the brakes and conditioning to research by external factors, mainly attributable to a strong management of power and the consequent downsizing of the role of free research, accompanied by the deleterious subordination of research to logic of the market. Finally, the autobiographical perspective highlights the central role of Tullio De Mauro in the renewal of linguistics studies in Italy and in the stubborn persistence of a democratic and inclusive vision even in times of democratic crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epidemics and pandemics plagued the human existence for centuries; then, as now, the first reaction is to pray. In some Christian denominations the prayer was addressed to the saints; even today the most invoked saints are St. Rita, St. Rocco, and St. Sebastian. The Covid-19 pandemic remember us that we still have to face these types of calamities. What is the best way to communicate such a shocking event? Media and social media catch people's attention. In Italy there are different points of view about this unknown disease and the vaccine effectiveness. This is a critical situation and people are called to take a stand. Who to believe? To the saints or to the healthcare workers, the new "heroes" of Covid19 pandemic? This paper debates what health communication methods have been used since 2020 and which one should be consider the best choice. This was done by analysing data, as number of followers, of some of the physicians and communicators who have spoken about Covid-19. In the past, during epidemic and pandemic situations, people entrusted saints. Nowadays people could choose from the pantheon of these divine and deified professionals, preferring those who are more reassuring. The user needs a communicative style with which he feels informed, reassured, but at the same time listened to, understood, and not judged, just as if he were protected by a saint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper traces some professional choices that guided the management of Italian libraries over the last fifty years, focusing on the interpretation of their cultural role, also in relation to the progressive spreading of digital culture. Libraries, regardless of their functional typology, remain a constitutive part of Italy’s cultural heritage: it is therefore essential to find a synthesis between their nature of ‘cultural heritage’, their information function and their social function. In light of this common ground, it is therefore important to find a synthesis between libraries’ informative and social function. Today, libraries are in the most favorable position to weave relationships between people and institutions. Librarians can identify in this current context fertile ground to redefine their profession and place themselves at the service of an Italian civil and cultural revitalization. It is a question of giving libraries – intended as places of inclusiveness and gathering – a greater baggage of knowledge and culture to perform their widely recognized social role. By expanding their range of action, libraries remain social, cultural and information hubs capable of carrying out a renewed connective and participatory function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with two closely related issues: the legal deposit of cartographic materials in Italy and their census by the Bollettino delle pubblicazioni italiane ricevute per diritto di stampa (1886-1957) and the Bibliografia nazionale italiana (BNI, 1958). Although cartographic materials represent a heritage of extraordinary historical, artistic and cultural value, they have long been neglected by legal deposit regulations, and their census by the Bollettino and Bibliografia nazionale italiana was irregular for a long time, until it was completely abandoned in the 1960s. Moreover, only maps and atlases were required to be deposited and surveyed, while other types of cartographic resources such as globes, three-dimensional models and digital maps were never taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes some considerations related to the contents of Chiara Faggiolani’s book Come un ministro per la cultura: Giulio Einaudi e le biblioteche nel sistema del libro (2020), dedicated to Giulio Einaudi’s intellectual and editorial personality, and focusing on the relationship between the ‘Dogliani project’ and the different environments of the Italian ‘book system’ of the early 1960s. The project, accomplished with the inauguration of the Luigi Einaudi Library in 1963, highlights the attempt to organically integrate architectural space, library collections and service management. What triggered this integration was Giulio Einaudi’s vision, shaped by his father’s passion for books and by the charisma and extraordinary intelligence of the members of the group called the ‘einaudiani’, who were the protagonists of the cultural season of a country, Italy, that was struggling to come to terms with massive cultural, economic, political and social transformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the available data on the book market and on reading behaviors in Italy during 2020, also taking into account the international landscape and relevant figures on other cultural consumptions, with the aim of proposing some interpretative hypotheses and analyzing the main trends. As often happened in the past, once again the real data have disproved some forecasts. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been different in different stages of the emergency. In the first weeks of lockdown, despite the increase of free time at home, the propensity to read does not seem to have grown significantly, while the sales figures, due to the bookstores' closures, led to fears of a collapse in consumption. Things went differently during the second wave, with a strong recovery of the book market: the year even closed with an increase in sales value compared to 2019. However, the radical transformations that are taking place in the relative weight of different sales channels are worrying, with a significant shift from 'physical' bookstores towards e-commerce, where Amazon holds a share of over 80%. Among the policies implemented in recent years to support demand and to promote reading, the '18-yearold bonus' proved to be highly effective: between 2016 and 2019 it allowed a large share of the young people who had moved away from reading in the previous years, to return among the ranks of readers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting point of this paper is the «Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights – 06/30/16 – Action no. 51362/09 – Taddeucci and McCall c. Italy», which sentenced the Italian government for not having granted residence permit due to family reasons to McCall, Taddeucci’s partner. Thanks to the recent approval of the law 76/2016 on Civil Unions, the right to family cohesion for homosexual couples has been fully recognized. In fact, since 02/11/17, the foreign partner of a same sex couple is allowed to apply for the Italian citizenship. This paper aims to identify the consistency of this type of phenomenon and to investigate the social and cultural dynamics that emerge from it. The analysis focuses on the emergence of family models, which determine different perceptions, capable of producing homophobic attitudes, sometimes associated with racial discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes the role of the so-called second generations concerning the issue of the «marriages of convenience» between Italy and Ethiopia. The work ethnographically analyzes the relation between transnational marriage alliance and citizenship value beyond its finalistic perspective. Drawing on the analysis of the social structures allowing transnational mobility through marriage, I will use a mobility perspective to analyze the «convenience» of this phenomenon from children of immigrants’ side. The paper aims at shedding light on the social value of citizenship between second generations involved in this phenomenon beyond its instrumental value, and as a gauge of social legitimation. By connecting marriages with their social positioning in a transnational social space and considering the social structures reproducing their differential relation in the national public space, the paper will show how «marriages for mobility» can well be considered as practices of Italianness among second generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on olive oil sector in central Italy, this paper proposes a decision support system for olive growers in order to: i) identify the optimal crop management in the hypothesis of maximizing gross farm income and maximizing a landscape integrity index; ii) simulate the effects of different policy and market scenarios. Results from multi-objective integer optimization models showed that the solution obtained by maximizing the gross income foresees the intensive crop management and the complete allocation of the farm area to newly planted olive groves. The traditional crop management is chosen when the landscape integrity index is maximized. However, only a 30% increase of the Extra Virgin Olive Oil price from ancient and traditionally managed olive groves could ensure their complete maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines, even through the analysis of some case studies, some recent national initiatives for historical rural landscapes. Some problematic issues, both theoretical and practical, that emerge considering these landscapes in conservation and safeguard policies, are then highlighted, with reference to the Italian case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some papers kept in the Foggia State Archive reveal a little-known crosssection of the migratory phenomenon between the two southern shores of the Adriatic in the early nineteenth century. It consisted in the mutual displacement of "foreigners" who reached the coasts of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and depleted then inhabitants to be used, in all probability, for slave duties. One of the most striking episodes of aggression was recorded in Monte S. Angelo in 1804, when a group of unfortunates was captured by unidentified foreigners. The story can be reconstructed thanks to a series of documents, including the declaration made by the prefect of Lucera who intended to initiate, by faith of slavery, the procedure for their freedom. The expulsive phenomenon, which therefore did not stop at the old regime but persisted even after the Enlightenment claim of fundamental rights, deserves to be reconstructed with particular regard to the historical-juridical implications: it generated - still in the 19th century - serious consequences of public order, which deeply affected the southern society, its perception of insecurity, trust feelings between population and institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the early decades of the twentieth century, the affirmation of children's literature as a kind of popular entertainment was facilitated in Italy both through books that enjoyed a wide readership and through stories and novels published in episodes in magazines of the time. My paper, by means of significant examples, offers some reflections on the use of recurrent personal names and common onomastic strategies in various authors, also in the light of the great inspiring models of the late-nineteenth-century fantasy-adventure genre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the second half of the nineteenth century, the famous American dwarf, Charles Stratton, called Tom Thumb, toured Europe with the theatrical show organized for him by Phineas Barnum, enjoying international success and fame. His name, changed to Tom Pouce, became synonymous in Italy with a 'very small person or thing': a frequently repeated antonomasia, with phonetic and graphic adaptations of the nickname. This paper aims to show the significance and repeated testimonies of this artistic name in the newspapers and books of the time, until its definitive lexicographic attestation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I'trying to show that there is a relationship between rock art, a site where rock art is placed and the wider landscape, articulated according to the Camunian "mindscape" in Valcamonica, Italy. In particular, I believe rock art may be regarded, making Lødøen's felicitous phrase my own, as a 'consumption of souls' within an animistic understanding of the world. I think the importance of mining copper and iron in relation to petroglyphs in Valcamonica has been underestimated so far, and I have tried to show its strong symbolic relationships. I believe I have made quite clear the symbolical connections between a certain type of landscape, a gulch with a strong hydrocentric focus, thundering noises, mining, metallurgy and deer, thanks to linguistic analysis, which shows how the same kind of landscape and similar mythologies can be found over an extremely wide territory. We do not know what the religious beliefs of the ancient Camunians were, similarities with neighboring populations aside, but linguistic analysis, anthropological as well as archaeological comparison and the study of both local folklore and archaic Aegean beliefs, allows us to hypothesize a more detailed picture of the Camunian thought in the Iron Age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the political-administrative genesis of one of the major Italian public infrastructures of the twentieth century: Naples metro Line 1. It is highlighted in the period of time, the project has suffered, and at the same time, the choices of the different "political seasons" that the third city of Italy has undergone. From the beginning of the national railway system, which has become the best practice in terms of public transport, Line 1 has become, year after year, the heart of the Neapolitan and regional transport system, gaining international notoriety thanks to the so-called "Art Stations" and arriving today to transport over 45 million passengers / year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Parco Regionale della Maremma (Maremma Regional Park) is a protected area of 8902 ha in the central coastal sector of the province of Grosseto, southern Tuscany. The existing habitats include the mouth and final stretch of River Ombrone, as well as the Palude della Trappola wetland; the Monti dell'Uccellina hills with the highest elevation point recorded in the area (417 m a.s.l.) and an extensive area where agriculture and free-range livestock coexist. Inside the protected area, 6 sites are included in the Nature 2000 Network; among these 4 are classified as ZSC (Special Conservation Zone, according to EU Habitat Directive 92/43/CE) and 5 as ZPS (Special Protection Zone, according to EU Birds Directive 2009/147/CE). A scanty road network linking isolated human settlements intersects the area. The dominant vegetation is represented by a scrubby forest of Mediterranean sclerophylls. In this paper, we present a checklist of the bird fauna of the Maremma Regional Park, as recorded from the date of establishment of the protected area (Tuscany Regional Law n.65 of 5 June 1975) until 31 December 2018. The observed species are 295, i.e. 62.1% of the species known for Tuscany and 52.5% of those known for Italy, as a whole. Of these species, 84 were recently assigned the Confirmed or Probable Breeding status (2008-2018), 88 are considered of Community Interest (Annex 1 EU Birds Directive 2009/147/CE), and 33 breeding species are classified as SPEC 1-3 (Species of European Conservation Concern). With the wetland sites "Bocca d'Ombrone" and "La Trappola" included in the Macrozona "Maremma Grossetana", the Maremma Regional Park is considered as a wetland of international importance for the wintering of Anser anser and Mareca penelope; besides, it is an important national area for Mareca strepera, Anas crecca, Anas acuta, Spatula clypeata, Ardea alba, Platalea leucorodia, Phoenicopterus roseus, Recurvirostra avosetta, Pluvialis apricaria, Calidris alpina, Vanellus vanellus, Gallinago gallinago, Numenius arquata, Tringa erythropus and Tringa totanus. The protected area is an important breeding site under the Directive 2009/147/CE for species nesting in wetlands, fallows, dry and brackish pastures, shrub-like areas on rocky outcrops, woodland edges, partially flooded habitats and sandy littoral zones, as for example, with low number of pairs, Pandion haliaetus (1 pair), Burhinus oedicnemus (7-8 pairs), Charadrius alexandrinus (1 pair), Caprimulgus europaeus (25 pairs), Coracias garrulus (13-15 pairs), Lanius collurio (1-5 pairs), Lullula arborea (10 pairs) and Anthus campestris (6-7 pairs). In 2015, for the first time, Ardea cinerea started nesting in a heronry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes a research performed by the Department of Anthropological Sciences for the Regione Liguria, finalized to the definition of a set of indicators for the distribution of the Regional Social Fund, feeding a consistent part of Liguria's social policies, governed by the Regional Social Plan and by Local Plans. The research is inserted in a setting of quite rigid normative and programming indications, even if, as it will be described, have taken places interesting retroactions between scientific results and the re-thinking of adopted criteria (or of their practical translation) by the decision maker, considering the results obtained though the operationalization of pre-defined criteria. These aspects have been recently observed by the Italian theoretical framework (Parra Saiani, 2009; Bezzi, Cannavò e Palumbo, a cura di, 2010), being always characterized by a proficient mix between descriptive-interpretative use and practical function. In these cases it is mainly used the Lazarsfeld sociological approach (Lazarsfeld, 1965), such as the selection of principal dimensions of the concept and the successive realization of variable (indicators) permitting to observe such dimensions. The research has maintained a certain degree of continuity with the Lazarsfeld's paradigm, even if opening to some critical reflections about it. More specifically, it emerges a continuous retroaction between indicators, dimensions and indicated concepts, that in their evaluative use produces also a wider consciousness of practical implications of adopted choices, both on the methodological plan, both on the political one. In this way, it is obtained a result that produces innovations and empowerment both on classic working models in social research, both on interested decisional processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The juvenile criminal trial assumes in Italy a "special configuration", aimed at the recovery and rehabilitation of the minor and to avoid that the sanctions imposed produce destructive effects in its psychosocial evolution (DRP 488/88). For this reason the various institutes foreseen and the organization of the trial itself are inspired more by a reparative logic than by a punitive logic. This determines that only in a limited and extreme measure the process closes with the imposition and subsequent execution of a sentence and that instead it is mainly made use of other institutions that already in the course of the procedure favor the start of a rehabilitation process. In this framework, for a couple of decades, the practice of Victim-Offender Mediation has been introduced in numerous judicial districts. The paper presents the results of an evaluation research on the results obtained through an experimental intervention of Victim-Offender Mediation carried out in a judicial district of Northern Italy. The results of the research make it possible to identify some factors and conditions of exercise associated with the outcome of the intervention and also elements that contribute to delineating the specificity and the implications of a psychological nature. Two are the most significant results. On the one hand, the effectiveness of the interventions was verified, but - at the same time - some important problems in their implementation are found. Beyond the very limited amount of situations that despite being sent by the judiciary have never had access to the service (in 6.0% of cases the victim or the offender has not become available even to perform the informative and preliminary interview) was found that only in 57.1% of the cases initiated was it possible to complete the course (ie to carry out the direct meeting between the offender and the victim): in these situations the outcome was positive in 78.5% of cases. In 42.9% of cases, however, the intervention was interrupted after the preliminary phase (in which the victim and the perpetrator were individually met). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an original approach to perform capacity assessments o f railway systems, based on the automatic generation and evaluation o f feasible timetables. This method relies on a microscopic model o f railway systems, used to simulate the train runs and the operation o f the signalling system. The resulting simulated train paths are utilised to arrange the input dataset for a scheduling algorithm which generates conflict-free timetables, which are then analysed in order to point out how and how much capacity is consumed. The described method and model are applied to a real case study, provided by a singletrack railway in Piedmont, Italy. Given a baseline scenario, a set o f infrastructural and operative improvements are taken into account. The relevant capacity increases are evaluated in terms o f reduction o f the global travel times of trains with respect to the baseline scenario. Results are analysed and discussed, highlighting the potentialities o f the presented method to performing effective capacity evaluations useful for a better exploitation o f railway systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to reconstruct the climate of Turin where he lived and worked Giuseppe Levi, the particular figures which animated the subalpine universities in the fascist period, the fruitful interaction between Jewish and anti-fascist world. Particular attention will be devoted to the different reactions of the Jewish community during the confidence to fascism in 1931 oath. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Archive of the Ospedale Maggiore (Major Hospital) of Milan (Italy), active continuously for nearly 600 years, can provide outstanding documentation illustrating the link between animals and hospital. Even animals in the city can be in contact with the humans' hospital. We refer to the creation into the Milanese Hospital, in the last years of the nineteenth century, of the Istituto Antirabico (Antirabies Institute) for administering the Pasteur's antirabies therapy. This paper analyzes specifically this hospital institution, whose archive was recently reorganized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents some reflections on the impact of reconstruction work on the economic and social history of Italy. This problem dates far back in time and is largely under-appreciated: from the 11th century to the year 2000 over 4,800 sites (villages and towns) suffered serious destruction followed by massive and extensive reconstruction work. Few cases have attracted the attention of historians, with the exception of rebuilding work after the 1693, 1783, 1908 and 1915 earthquakes. Yet the interest of such studies lies less in the history of local town planning, and more in that of the surrounding territories and how these were managed administratively, politically and by government in general. What happens at the various stages of reconstruction work provides an accelerated glimpse of power and decision-making dynamics at work, conditioned by in-fighting, class conflict, or the slowness and instability of solutions dogged by bureaucratic squabbling within government. Such features of the governance process often escape historical analysis. The quality of reconstruction work significantly affects the impact of subsequent earthquakes. For this reason, and given the frequency of seismic events in Italy, we find „chains“ of destruction and reconstruction (L’Aquila, for example, is preparing for its sixth rebuilding, between the 14th century and today). Destruction and reconstruction map out a history spanning natural features and the features of the built environment. We must rise above set disciplinary patterns and topics if this history is to be explored, understood and more widely disseminated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the comital elites of the early 11th century mentioned in the documentation for the Rome area, the counts of Galeria occupied a prominent place. Though we can reconstruct their history until the second half of the 13th century, not all the individuals who held this title were of the same lineage. Count Gerardo [I], son of Ranieri, is the most important figure of all the Counts of Galeria, and therefore the main focus of this paper. He is documented between 1040–1060 and played an important role in Rome’s political history during these years. He collaborated with Popes Benedict IX and Benedict X; he played a leading role in the Roman Tuscia where he also owned several castles, and was a close ally of the abbots of Farfa. Count Sassone of Civita Castellana was his brother. Both men had descendants. It is very likely that after Count Gerardo’s death, in the early 1060s Galeria Castle returned under papal control. According to a document in the archives of San Paolo fuori le mura, Gregory VII granted it to the monastery in Via Ostiense. By contrast, the descendants of Count Sassone, his son Rainieri [II] and his grandson Sassone [II], managed to retain control of Civita Castellana until almost the end of the century. Our information on this family ceases in the last 20 years of the 11th century. At the end of the first millennium, other Roman families began to appear in the Roman contado and the southern Tuscia, and in the space of a century their ambitions obliterated the old families that had hitherto dominated. Other counts of Galeria appear sporadically in the documents of the 12th and 13th centuries, but none of these individuals were as important as the two brothers Gerardo [I] and Sassone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a reflection on the policy of cost-cutting and spending review in the Italian public sectors. The thesis is twofold. First of all, the paradigm used by the spending reviews' policies is based on the macro-economic theory that doesn't take into account the complexity of the implementation processes. Secondly, the weakness of the administrative technical bureaucracies in coordinating modernisation processes produces an incoherent diffusion of innovations. The paper discusses, as empirical examples, two relevant national programmes in the field of the judicial sector; these programmes are mobilising an interesting governance network at the territorial (local) level and a vast number of projects in specific territorial areas. The implementation of these interventions shows, however, that many judicial offices of the Nation lack the necessary resources and capabilities to sustain modernisation projects and, at the same time, the difficulty of central bureaucracies to oversee and safeguard a coherent fulfilment of the diffusion objectives, due to the fragility of technical bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports an evaluation exercise led on behalf of the Regione of Lombardy during the years 2009-2011. Authors evaluated a set of regional programs (le "doti", lite rally "dowries") aimed at the employment of various categories of disadvantaged individuals. Treated subjects would receive a voucher, by which they could access a set of employment-oriented services by a set of providers, both public and private, certified by the Regione. The evaluation exercise was aimed at ranking the service providers on the basis of their effectiveness. First, the paper describes the data provided to the evaluation group, and a set of problems related to the program design. Then, the statistical models are presented: two version of a multilevel random effect models, and a model of analysis of the productive efficiency frontier (DEA). Finally, the paper explains why the ranking provided by the models cannot be used operationally, and what can be done to overcome the problems and get a satisfying evaluation of important public policies such as the one considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper comes from the observation that, although there is undoubtedly a multitude of evaluations of the planning of rural development, there doesn't appear to be a similar number of studies and analyses of "the evaluation" itself and in particular of the analyses of complex evaluations like those of the Rural Development Programmes (RDPs). Through analyses and comparisons of ex-ante evaluation reports of the 21 RDPs in Italy, narratives of these evaluations are reconstructed with specific reference to methodological aspects, models and procedures adopted by evaluators. It is a real meta-evaluative exercise which will try to reconstruct the overall methodological path adopted by evaluators. Central interest is on how value judgements have been conceived and constructed. The paper intends to contribute to the debate on evaluative methodologies because it highlights the relevance of the methods and procedures used in the evaluative practice with respect to the complexity of the evaluative object. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a discussion over various evaluation approaches and criteria in the field of Development Co-operation by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and by International Organizations such as FAO, IFAD and the European Commission (Europeaid). At the beginning the analysis considers the evolution of planning models based on resources supply (human, financial and material), and successively the paper focuses on models much more concerning the sustainable achievement of objectives and results, by means of participative approaches. Specific problems on the evaluation of development cooperation initiatives are presented; conclusions assess the necessities of a systematic utilization of the methods for the economic evaluation of investments which, at present, seem to be underemployed, especially by the Italian Development Co-operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of the relationships between evaluation activities and re-organization of early educational provision in Italy shows the potential role of evaluation in the processes of modernization of public administration. Local governments need both to guarantee a good quality of the public as well as subsidized early educational centers and to build up an integrated network of all the centers in their area. In this perspective, evaluation becomes a basic tool of local governance. This paper will present a project of evaluation of infant-toddler daycare centers realized on demand of the City of Rome. The project implemented an articulated system of evaluation based on a process of discussion on the definition and evaluation of quality that was shared among different stakeholders and implemented according to procedures of documentation, analysis, and evaluation of the different components of the center quality. The analysis of this experience shows that, within an integrated local network of early educational centers, the evaluation activities aimed at institutional accreditation or at excellence accreditation are likely to be the same. The paper also discusses the value of an approach to the evaluation of early educational services based on inter-subjectivity and participation of many stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until the so-called sanitary reform (1978), which introduced a Beveridge system, in Italy existed a peculiar kind of general practitioner, paid by municipalities, who ensured healthcare to those not covered by social insurance. In small towns those physicians also carried out the function of Health Officers, performing Public Health duties. We had the possibility to study the very large archive of one of them, doctor Sgandurra from Farindola, a village in the Abruzzi Region (central Italy): in the paper we briefly analyse six public health acts that he issued in the first half of the 1950s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After an excursus on the peculiarity of the Sardinian language and the difference between a language and a dialect, the paper analyses the changes applied to the treatment of Sardinian language in different Dewey Decimal Classification editions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protected area management is hindered by the different perspective that institutional stakeholders have on the main, in some cases, contrasting objectives to be reached. In order to get satisfying solutions, it is needed that the structure of the preferences among stakeholders be sufficiently known and defined. In this paper, the choice modelling approach is used to assess the importance of conflicting rival objectives, referring as a case study to the coastal protected area along the Tyrrhenian coast of Italy named ''Salina di Tarquinia''. Results show that stakeholders prefer a centralized regime of management, probably to overcome all contrasts that numerous authorities having a right on this area usually exercised in the recent past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper begins from testing a renewed interest by the Italian legislator about aspects of land ownership, and examines recent proposals of regulatory measures presented in the years 2012 and 2013. Therefore are taken into account the law projects concerning the so called 'Consumption' of agricultural land, presented to the Parliament by the Italian government either in September 2012 then in June 2013, following the election of the new Parliament in the Spring of 2013. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many professionals who work in the library field agree that nowadays the Italian library system is experiencing a state of discomfort. There's a lack of resources essential to manage the everyday activities - and perhaps if there were plentiful resources libraries wouldn't really know how to use them, in order to improve their services. Assuming that cooperation is the right solution for enhancing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of library services, a path was conceived to overcome this situation. The project was structured in three steps: first there was a consultation with the researchers who - in 2001 - published the study Le professionalità operanti nel settore dei Servizi culturali: le Biblioteche lombarde (“Professionals operating in cultural services: the libraries of Lombardia"), then international benchmarking was carried out, and finally some library specialists were interviewed. The project pointed out the opportunity of creating a new system that may serve as well library networks as single libraries. This paper presents the first part of the research, i.e. a summary of the activities carried out by libraries and library networks, and the project to achieve their further integration in a “network of networks", exploring also unconventional resources as time banking. The five library areas that were identified as the more suitable for this integration are: digital services, funding, planning of cultural events/activities, monitoring, evaluation and development, editorial support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the results of a comparative study on four universities in France and in Italy, which investigates how evaluation helps to strengthen the university as autono-mous and professional organization, able to formulating strategies and/or tactics of adap-tation in relation to regulatory changes and context, overcoming the traditional loosely cou-pled feature. The hypothesis is that the academic organizations show different effects of resilience, linked to intended and unintended changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper illustrates the process of change towards the opening up of an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a regional hospital in Veneto. There is a brief description of the main reasons for opening up ICUs and of difficulties and opposition. A business plan accompanied the process of change; this plan, which a psychologist contributed to, involved the entire staff. Before the opening up of the ICU a specially devised questionnaire was administered to the entire staff. After this, a training course was run by the psychologist; the meetings focused on effective and assertive communication in the team, the communication skills of the health workers and end of life. The service charter and regulations for staff and relatives were reviewed. Eventually, after six experimental months of the open Intensive Care Unit, the questionnaire was re-administered to the entire staff. Analysis of the results revealed an increase in overall satisfaction regarding the opening up of the ICU and a change in two questions about the difficulties felt by nurses in relation to relatives being present. Finally the results of the questionnaire are discussed and some final proposals are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes the main characteristics of the ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) method for identifying serials, and illustrates the institutional distinctive features, aim and objectives of the ISSN system. Some operational aspects of the ISSN international Network are briefly pointed out: how the ISSN is used in barcodes for the commercial distribution of the publications, how it is employed as a unique bibliographic identifier in national and international databases and repositories, what's the procedure for the code assignation and for the cataloguing of serials, which are the data search functionalities in ISSN archive and its potential bibliographic uses. The article also describes the role and activities of the ISSN Italian Centre, that is an institutional member of the ISSN Network as well as a national interlocutor for publishing and scientific users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers information on the beginning of qualification/certification activities in Italy and data and indications on the experiences gained by Italian Institute of Welding (Certifying Body Accredited by Sincert, and then Accredia, and Notified CE, www.iis.it) and more recently by IIS CERT (Certifying Body Accredited by Accredia and Notified CE, www.iiscert.it), applying the standards EN 473, ISO 9712 and the directive 97/23/CE (PED) on qualification, certification and approval ofnon destructive testing personnel. Particularly information updated to 31 July 2012 are given and discussed on the activity of qualification/certification since January 2001 (starting year for the application of EN 473, second edition, and PED directive) with reference to the issued certifications and approvals and to their distribution in method and level. Furthermore, it is reported that at the beginning of 2011 IIS originated two branches, IIS CERT e IIS SERVICE, both totally owned and passed to the first one its activities of certification and approval. Instead IIS maintained the training, education and laboratory activities; all of them, together with research and development activities, will be transferred to a third IIS branch, IIS PROGRESS (www.iisprogress.it), which will officially start these activities at the beginning of 2013. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the institutional background of Italian State university libraries, from the establishment of the Italian Ministry of Culture to the present day - going through the last decade of the 20th century, when Legislative Decree 112/1998 proposed a new institutional organization of the State university libraries within the Universities. The main institutional and service tasks that State university libraries have to fulfill are supporting learning and research, preserving national heritage and providing proper spaces for public reading. The paper analyses the opportunities of interaction and cooperation with Universities and University libraries, as for-for instance-the purchasing policies (especially with regard to electronic resources) and the users' training and information sessions. Given the increasing compression of human and financial resources that hampers the daily management of libraries, inter-institutional cooperation nowadays is more desirable than ever. If on the one hand the plurality of tasks and functions of the State university libraries reinforces their vitality, on the other hand it adds an extra burden on the daily organisation and service management, because of the difficulty of arranging their human and financial resources and of giving the right space and visibility to their several institutional and service tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper outlines the historical context in which, during the First World War, the Romanian Legion in Italy was created in June 1918, at Avezzano. Led by Brigadier General Vittorio Zuppelli, the Legion consisted of Romanian prisoners of war who had previously belonged to the Austro- Hungarian army. The three Romanian companies integrated into the Italian army distinguished themselves in the battles that led to the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian forces and brought about the end of the war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to investigate evaluation in Italy both at national and at institutional level, their differences, relationship and possibility of integration. Italy is a latecomer in the field of research evaluation, but great efforts have been made in recent years to bridge the gap by following best practices at an international level. While at a national level the National Agency of Evaluation (ANVUIR) has played an important role in stimulating discussions, considerations (and controversies) in the attempt to establish a role model and a methodology for qualitative evaluation, there is not a common model for institutional evaluation and the possibility to gain reliable benchmarking information depends, at this moment, on collaboration with other institutions in the definition of a common frame and in the sharing of data, expertise and tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important to identify the monetary value of the different functions of a forest in order to estimate the environmental diseases or in order to plan and take decisions. The aim of this paper is to test a new methodology that focuses on the spatialization of the monetary values of benefits (services) that are offered by a forest. This methodology is based on the "Benefit transfer" approach and empirical indexes used in non-monetary evaluations. The result demonstrates the analysis of tourist-recreational function of the forest in the Tuscany Region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]