History of Archives and Libraries

The aim of the course is to teach students the basics of the history of archives and libraries, to gain insight nto research in publishing archives and authors' libraries, and to study the objects, sources and methods (including digital ones) of recent research in the history of libraries and archives. Lectures will be accompanied by guided visits to the Biblioteca Nazionale di Braidense and/or the Archivio di Stato di Milano and/or Centro Apice.

At the end of the course, students should be able to:
-Place in time the events in the history of archives and libraries presented in class and in the bibliography;
-Illustrate, using the appropriate terminology, the historical events of archives and libraries presented in class and in the bibliography;
-Describe, with terminological property, the preserving institutions presented in class and in the bibliography, their history, objectives, their preservation choices and the policies put in place towards readers and researchers,
-Describe the political, economic, social, and/or cultural contexts that have influenced certain choices in bibliographic and archival preservation;
-Review current research presented in class, defining its goals, sources, methods, and results;
-Identify and critically discuss the types of sources used in the research presented in class or in the bibliography;
-Describe and critically discuss the methods used in the research presented in class or in the bibliography.