RULES

REFERENCE LEGISLATION

The Library’s activities are governed by Presidential Decree 417/95 ‘Regulations on State Public Libraries’ and the ‘Internal Regulations’ below.

MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY HISTORY LIBRARY

INTERNAL RULES

TIMETABLE
ADMISSION
CONSULTATION AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
DISTRIBUTION OF MODERN MATERIAL
DISTRIBUTION OF MANUSCRIPTS AND VALUABLE MATERIAL
LOAN
REPRODUCTIONS
CONDUCT AND SANCTIONS

Art. 1 – Functions

The Library of Modern and Contemporary History fulfils, within the National Library System, the task of a specialised institute for historical studies for the modern and contemporary age. Current orientations tend to provide the basic tools for the study of the history of the 16th-20th centuries, with a special focus on the 19th and 20th centuries. Within its field of interest, the Library devotes particular attention to collections of sources and documents, bibliographical research tools, foreign publications and specialised periodicals.

It enhances its collections with appropriate bibliographic tools and public events. Particular attention is devoted to didactic introduction to historical research for high school and university students, also in cooperation with other institutions.

Art. 2 – Timetable

The Library is open throughout the calendar year. Opening hours are from Monday to Friday from 8.30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. and on Saturdays from 8.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. As a rule, during the month of August, only morning hours are observed. Possible periods of closure, linked to revision and reorganisation work will be established as required by the Director and communicated through the usual information channels. During these periods the catalogue consultation and lending service will remain in operation at reduced hours.

Art. 3 – Admission

The Library is open to anyone who needs to consult its collections. You must be at least 18 years of age to gain access. Any exceptions will be evaluated by the Management on a case-by-case basis.

Users are obliged
a) to provide themselves with a valid identity document in order to obtain the Library card that allows access to the integrated management of all the services offered
b) to deposit bags, including computer cases, helmets, mobile phones, books and other objects not expressly authorised in the lockers provided. No large bags or backpacks may be placed in the lockers. Locker keys must be carried at all times, even for short absences.
The Library is not responsible for personal objects or property deposited or introduced by users on its premises.

Users may bring their own volumes or photocopies if they are needed to consult the documents held by the Library (bibliographies or texts to be collated), subject to authorisation by the assisting officers.

No one may enter the Library for mere pastime or for reasons other than institutional purposes.

Should the electronic detection equipment come into operation, users are required to allow staff to check whether they are in possession of any bibliographic or documentary material in the Library. The Library reserves the right to apply the appropriate sanctions.

Art. 4 – Reference and Bibliographic Information

The Library has six consultation rooms and a newspaper library (detached on the ground floor). Some tables are reserved for consulting manuscript, rare and valuable material.

The information service is provided throughout the opening hours for the public. Bibliographic information is provided on external requests made by telephone, mail, fax or e-mail. All costs incurred for the provision of interlibrary loan services, reproduction in photocopy or from microfilm, of bibliographic information involving additional costs resulting from the use of new technologies (connections to databases, hard copies or electronic copies of documentation in digital format) are borne by the user. Fees and payment methods are governed by current legislation.

A register of purchase proposals is available to users; reports and suggestions for improving the service can be submitted to the hall and catalogue assistants.

Art. 5 – Distribution of modern material

The book material distribution service begins half an hour after the Library opens and ends one hour before closing. Book material is taken from the stacks every 60 minutes from the time the service begins.

Each document desired for reading must be requested on a form provided by the library, clearly filled out in all its parts. Two works for a maximum of four volumes may be given for reading at a time.

It is forbidden to consult material on which inventory, collation and cataloguing operations have not been completed, or which is not in a good state of preservation.

If the library has a reproduction, on whatever medium, of the requested document, this must be given for reading in place of the original, unless the user demonstrates a real need to use the original.

Access to the library storerooms is forbidden to the public. However, the management may, in exceptional cases and at the reasoned request of the user, authorise the consultation of documents in the storerooms in the presence of supervisory staff.

Before leaving the Library, users must return all documents received for reading. Works may be left in storage for one week, subject to reconfirmation.

Art. 6 – Distribution of manuscripts and rare and valuable material

Rare and valuable material is considered to be volumes, newspapers, pamphlets, notices with a publication date up to and including 1900 and the Mazzini, Foscolo, Guerrazzi Collections, Rare and manuscripts.
Requests must be made on special forms and, upon delivery, the user must sign the movement register for receipt.
Consultation of manuscripts or their reproductions requires the compilation of special files. For consultation of manuscripts, it is necessary to contact those responsible in the Historical Collections Office.
The manuscripts, the Mazzini, Foscolo, Guerrazzi and Rari collections are given for reading one at a time, except for justified study needs, and cannot be kept in storage. Moreover, they must be returned whenever one leaves the study room, even for a short period.

Art. 7 – Loan

The Loan Office observes the following hours: 9am-1.30pm; 2.30pm-7pm Monday to Friday, 9am-1pm on Saturdays.
Direct loans are available to all citizens residing in Lazio. For limited periods of time, they may also be used by:
a) Italian or EU citizens who can prove their study or research needs and their place of residence in the region;
b) non-EU citizens who, in addition to being able to document their need for study and research and their domicile in the region, are presented by the Consulate or Embassy or by a cultural institution of international importance and are in possession of certification attesting to their period of residence.

In order to register for the loan, you will need an identity document and proof that you meet the requirements. Any change of residence or domicile must be reported immediately to the Loan Office, under penalty of exclusion for not less than six months.

The following material is excluded from the loan:
a) works published before the last forty years
b) works placed in sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 12, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30, 31; Rare; Rossi Fund (F.R.), Santarelli Fund (F.S.), Vinciguerra Fund (F.V.), Melograni Fund (F.M.), Guerrazzi Fund; Mazzini Collection, Foscoliana Collection, Coll. Ist.; Announcements, Posters, Flyers; Fo, Fo. Ris.; Exhibition Catalogues (C.M.); Miscellaneous; RI, RIV, RE, RA, RO, RAN, PUBBL.UFF., ACADEMIC ACTS; LARGE FORMATS
c) works in a precarious state of conservation,
d) works placed in the Reference Rooms,
e) periodicals,
f) maps
g) engravings, prints and photographs
h) microfilm negatives and microfilm positives of which the master is not in possession
i) any other material for which particular reasons advise against removal from the premises.

Two works may be borrowed for a maximum of four volumes. The maximum loan period is fifteen days, with the possibility of extension for one week, unless other bookings are made. It is forbidden to give the volumes received on loan to others.
There are sanctions for non-compliance:
a) whoever does not return the volume borrowed on time is suspended from the service for a period at least equal to the delay made.
b) anyone who returns a damaged volume or loses it is obliged, without prejudice to further sanctions, to reinstate it or pay a sum no less than double the volume’s commercial value.
c) anyone who fails to return the volume or restore it is excluded from the Library and reported to the judicial authorities.

A review of the library material and records related to the loan service must be carried out once a year. During the fifteen days prior to this review, all borrowed documents must be returned to the library and no new loans are granted. The period when the service is suspended is communicated to users in a timely manner through the usual information channels. .

Art. 8 – Reproduction

It is possible to obtain, at one’s own expense, the reproduction for personal study use of the works owned by the Library, in compliance with current copyright legislation (Law no. 248/2000), provided that the state of preservation and the obligation to protect allow it.

The following are excluded from reproduction by photocopy
a) all works published up to and including 1920
b) large-format works
c) works in a poor state of conservation
d) newspapers
e) manuscript and rare material
Alternatively, photographic or microfilm reproductions may be made.

Authorisation for reproduction must be requested by completing the appropriate form, which must be submitted to the room and catalogue assistants. Reproductions must be made in the manner and by the means considered most appropriate to guarantee the protection of the material. If the Library already has a reproduction, the requested copy will be taken from it.

The works owned by the Library may also be reproduced for editorial or commercial purposes, in compliance with current copyright legislation as well as with Law no. 4/93 and the subsequent regulation D.M. 31/1/94 according to the rates set by current legislation.

Art. 9 – Conduct and Sanctions

Users must comply with the provisions set forth in Presidential Decree 417/95 (‘Regulations containing rules on state public libraries’) and in these regulations.
Anyone violating the above regulations, without prejudice to any civil or criminal liability, may be temporarily or permanently excluded from the Library; in particular, anyone guilty of theft, mutilation or damage of any kind will be excluded from the Library and referred to the judicial authorities. Anyone making marks or writing, even in pencil, on books or documents, or disturbing study or work activities in any way, may also be excluded. The obligation to pay compensation for damages in all the above cases remains unaffected.
Users who issue self-certifications are reminded that, pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 76 of Law no. 445 of 28 December 2000
‘1. Whoever issues false declarations, forms false deeds or makes use of them in the cases provided for by this Consolidated Text shall be punished pursuant to the Penal Code and the special laws on the subject; 2. The production of a deed containing data that no longer correspond to the truth shall be equivalent to the use of a false deed’.

Users must dress and behave in a manner befitting the decorum of the place and the institution, in particular it is forbidden to
a) smoking, drinking or eating on Library premises;
b) speaking and studying out loud;
c) use mobile phones on Library premises
d) disturb other users in any way;
e) reserve reading places and occupy them beyond what is necessary:
f) making improper use of furniture, equipment and rooms (sitting on tables, stairs, …) and preventing other users from making full use of the space provided;
g) use it tools for purposes other than online bibliographic and CD-ROM consultation; in particular, it is forbidden to use e-mail, to surf the Internet and other networks for purposes other than study and research and to tamper in any way with the software and hardware equipment made available;
h) trespassing without authorisation on the premises where staff offices are located and using equipment and materials assigned to staff;

It is also forbidden, without the prior authorisation of the Management, to carry out any kind of sale or exchange, to carry out advertising or propaganda activities by any means, to collect signatures for any purpose, to distribute questionnaires on any subject.
The same rules, insofar as they apply, must also be observed by internal staff and external auxiliary staff, as well as by all those who, with authorisation, are allowed temporary visits to the Library.
Staff, who must make themselves available and always recognisable, are obliged to intervene directly or at the request of users in order to enforce compliance with the rules set out in this article, taking, in consultation with the management. the necessary preventive measures and sanctions.
Without prejudice to compensation for any damages, the management reserves the right to apply the appropriate sanctions to those who fail to comply with these rules, including, for users, temporary or permanent exclusion from library attendance.