Library

On-line catalog (in italian)

The library of the Istituto Agronomico per l'Oltremare is specialized in scientific and technical documentation pertaining to agriculture and agrarian economy in the intertropical regions. Begun in 1908, the library currently contains 131,000 volumes (including 18,000 miscellaneous) and 800 current periodicals. The publications, both books and periodicals, are mainly foreign  and cover a vast range of subjects: rural development, science and production of plants, climatology, forestation, economy of development, animal husbandry, natural and environmental resources, mechanization, defense of cultures etc.

The library includes some special collections:

A Map Archives which contains circa 2,500 maps, including geographical, pedological, phytogeographic, climatic, regarding the potentialities of the soil, erosion risks, etc., classified by geographical region.

A considerable collection of FAO publications, from its foundation to today, and of other international organizations.

A historical fund of particular interest, especially for scholars of African history.

Outstanding also is the collection of periodical publications, which altogether, including those now out of print and those still being published, consists of several thousand titles.
Many of them are obtained thanks to documentation exchanges with about 400 institutions throughout the world. Most of them are universities, research centers, scientific institutes, international and governative organisms.

The library has a well supplied sector of reference material (atlases, repertories, scientific dictionaries, retrospective and current bibliographies) and has recently been endowed with some bibliographic databases on CD-ROM: AGRICOLA (National Agricultural Library, USDA); AGRIS (FAO); TROPAG & RURAL (Royal Tropical Institute); OCLC catCD (On line Computer Library Center); BNI (Bibliografia Nazionale Italiana).

The library is open to the public and is principally used by Italian and foreign scholars, researchers and students.
Catalogs available are: alphabetic author catalog; classification by subject; subject with subdivision for geographical area.
An on-line catalog (in italian) is avalaible.

Responsible: Stefania Sani