The Direction Office "Libraries Network" has created a multi-year project on digital reading and overcome the digital divide, in collaboration with the Master of Science in Information, Communication and Publishing, University of Rome Tor Vergata.
Two surveys were carried out by submitting 2 semi-structured questionnaires to librarians, in the libraries of the Province of Rome. The first survey has revealed the presence of e-books, the digital lending services and the relating issues. The other survey has placed the focus on documentary heritage and the needs of the libraries about the digitization processes, in the perspective of making more accessible and promote the rich heritage of ancient documents in them preserved.
Meanwhile there were 2 “information activities” on the use of e-book: one aimed at patrons and a the other (a training cycle) was addressed to librarians, also in collaboration with other important institutions: the Central Institute for the Union Catalogue of Italian Libraries and for Bibliographic Information of the Ministry of cultural heritage and Activities and Tourism; the DigiLab-Centre for Research and Services of the University “La Sapienza” of Rome.
The project is largely merged into a publication “Let's start from libraries: promote reading and the overcome of the digital divide”, edited by the University of Rome Tor Vergata. The volume is intended as a tool for reflection to foster development of essential cultural services on the territory, in favor of operators, administrators and patrons: a starting point for a comparison and an incremental update; the publication is available also in digital version (in italian language).