Manuscripts and Rare Books section and Drawings and Prints Private Room

The consultation of the materials takes place in two different halls open to the public, according to the following times and methods:

All the documentation is freely available for consultation. For the consultation and, in particular, for the possible reproduction of the consulted material by own means, users are obliged to respect:
- The copyright legislation (Law number 633 of the 22nd April 1941, and subsequent amendments)
- The legislation on the searchability of archival documents and the protection of personal data (Legislative Decree number 196 of the 30th June 1993 and subsequent amendments)
- The code of ethics and good conduct for the processing of personal data for historical purposes (Legislative Decree of the 30th June 1993, number 196, Annex A/2)
- The legislation on the reproduction of cultural objects (art. 108 of the Legislative Decree of the 22nd January 2004, number 42, with regards to paragraphs 3 and 3 bis, as amended by the law of the 4th August 2017, number 124, art. 1, paragraph 171)
- The rules on the preservation and the protection of the documentary heritage adopted by the Archiginnasio Municipal Library, which particularly reserves the right to consult reproductions, if available, on any medium, instead of the original copy of the requested document (ref. to the Decree 1163/1911, art. 88, c. 4)

The modalities listed below are aimed at ensuring users adequate working conditions for a place of study and research and to guarantee the protection of the documentary material.
Users are required to read and to scrupulously adhere to these regulations.
Limits to the availability of documents may be determined by their temporary unavailability (because they are subjected to preservation or to restoration works, exhibited, being reproduced or similar) or because they are in a precarious state of preservation or in the process of reordering and cataloguing.

Access and admission
All users who wish to conduct research on materials (the original documents or the reproductions) managed by the Manuscripts and Rare Books Service and by the Drawings and Prints Private Room, are admitted.
In order to consult the original materials, users must present a valid ID document (issued by public authorities for EU citizens; passport for non-EU citizens) accompanied by a photo on first access. Personal data are noted on an individual personal data sheet, expiring on the 31st December of the current calendar year.
Users are required to sign a declaration regarding compliance with the above-mentioned regulations.
Users can access the Halls with personal laptop, erasable pencil, strictly indispensable note paper and, if necessary, flexible tape-meter, magnifying glass, white cotton gloves (the latter for illuminated manuscripts, drawings, photographs or other special materials).
Books or documents belonging to the Library or other sections of the Library may be not introduced into the Halls, except in exceptional cases where a reasoned question in made.
It is prohibited to introduce scissors, knives, blades, razors, adhesive tape, glue, correcting fluids or any other object or substance potentially harmful to documents.

The rules for consultation
At the entrance of the Manuscripts and Rare Books Hall, the user signs the daily attendance register and fills out the request form(s) for the documents he/she is interested in, whether they are original documents or copies.
Except where justified, only one documentary unit can be consulted at a time (one booklet or one register for the special collections and one volume for manuscripts or rare editions), or no more than ten loose papers at a time.
Normally the user can consult in original no more than 2 envelopes of special funds or 5 volumes (or instalments or registers) or 3 volumes (or instalments or registers) plus 2 envelopes per day; for the iconographic materials with classification GDS and the documents stored in the Special Archives which have particular characteristics in relation to their format or state of preservation, the daily quantity is agreed upon when the appointment for consultation with the Drawings and Prints Private Room is set.
Searches requiring a larger number of documents may be authorised following a reasoned written request.
For the reproductions in paper format, no more than 10 documentary units (volumes or boxes) may be daily consulted.
The own digital reproductions of the library must be consulted only on the personal computer workstations reserved for the users of the Manuscripts and Rare Books Hall and may be not downloaded on the personal computer.
The consultation of the modern bibliographic material of the Halls is free.
You can book the documents you wish to consult either in person, or by telephone or email.

During the consultation of the materials, the user must:
- Not alter in any way the order of the documents
- Consult the material with clean hands
- Always use only erasable pencils to take notes
- Not temper the pencil on the tables
- Use, as a sign and to scroll the lines, the appropriate strip of barrier paper provided by the staff who give assistance in the hall
- Not rest the pencil, the hands or the fingers on the documents to help you read
- Not mark or underline, even in pencils, on documents
- Not superimpose paper for writing or anything else on the documents
- Place the bound volumes on the special supports and, to keep them open, ask for the special plumbed cords from the staff who give assistance in the hall
- Not trace images (watermarks, drawings, miniatures, bindings)
- Follow the instructions given by the Head of the Hall for the consultation of the special documents, large documents or documents in a precarious state of preservation
- Report to the person in charge of the Hall any defects or damage or inconsistencies found in the documents delivered.

Documents of any kind may not be consulted by two persons at the same time or transferred from one reader to another.
If the user goes away from the Rooms for a few minutes, without leaving the library, he can leave the volume closed on the bookrest. The illuminated manuscripts, loose papers, small format volumes or the precious volumes must instead be rendered up to the staff who give assistance in the Hall.
The library staff are not responsible for personal effects left in the Halls.
For each manuscript, instalment or envelope of a special fund consulted, the user is obliged to indicate on the appropriate file accompanying the document the information prescribed therein.
Once the consultation is completed, the user returns the materials to the staff who give assistance in the Hall, specifying whether they intend to have them in the storage or return them. The duration of the storage is weekly (for not more than 2 envelopes or volumes at the same time), provided that the documents are not of a particular value or size.
The scholar is required to deliver copies of publications that include images of materials for which he has obtained permission to publish, if specified.
He is also invited to send to the Library a copy of the publications concerning the consulted material.

Reproductions
The Section preserves microfilm reproductions, microfilm prints, analogue and digital photographs of the manuscript and rare printed heritage and iconographic materials.
Upon specific request to the Library, to be filled in on the appropriate form, reproductions for study purposes (with watermark) and publication purposes are provided, for a fee.
The user may reproduce with his/her own means the documentary materials consulted in the original (having the title according to the art. 108, paragraphs 3 and 3bis, of the Legislative Decree of the 22nd January 2004, number 42), in compliance with the regulations on the searchability of archival documents and the protection of personal data and the limitations imposed by copyright law. The user is obliged to ensure that the reproductions are not used for commercial purposes, either by himself or by others.
At the time of reproduction by own means, the user is obliged to follow the instructions given by the person in charge of the Hall and to handle the documents with particular care. It is worth remembering that it is not allowed:
- The use of flash or other portable light sources, scanners and tripods
- To climb on chairs and stairs, place the material on the ground or move it to other areas of the halls in order to obtain better shooting conditions
- To flat out the cards with your own hands, force the opening of the volumes, hold the volumes or the documents suspended (e. g. to reproduce watermarks)
- To use one of your hands to hold the volume
- The reproduction must be carried out by holding your device with both hands, so as to avoid the risk of it falling on the material.

With regards to the materials consulted in the reproduction on the PC workstation of the Manuscripts and Rare Books Hall, the user can ask to receive a copy free of charge, using the appropriate form. Images will be sent by email in a format for study use and accompanied by a Library watermark. For publications in books or magazines, the publishing house must submit the request for authorization to the Management, using the form provided for this purpose.

Information
The people in charge of the Hall provide information remotely written, upon request (to be sent to ManoscrittiArchiginnasio@comune.bologna.it) and, on site, from 9 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. or by email, bibliographical and research assistance.
Information is provided by telephone only if they are of general remark (timetables, admission procedures, rules for consultation, services) or related to the booking of documents.
The information provided by the Library is intended to help the scholar to identify the sources and the bibliography useful for his/her research, within the collections entrusted to the Section.
The people in charge of the Hall are not required to write transcriptions of the documents or to take the place of the users in their study and research activities.