SIHS DigitaLab

The resource provided below is an SIHS curated, keyword searchable research database consisting of some 3,500 digitized primary source materials pertaining to the history of Italy between the middle ages and the twenty-first century. In constructing the database, we gathered metadata and URLs from a wide range of mostly Open Access digital repositories, including the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale and the websites of various university and regional libraries throughout Italy.

Having merely scratched the surface in terms of assembling the full range of digitized sources available online, we will continue to periodically add new entries to the database, as well as maintain and enhance the keyword discoverability of the database’s existing entries. If you know of a particular source or collection that you don’t see included here and would like to share it with the other members of the SIHS, please fill out our suggestion form by clicking here.

To narrow the database’s 3,500 entries down to your specific research interests, use the content “filters” provided above the database (i.e. “Category,” “Century,” Year,” etc.). If you have a specific word or phrase in mind, use the “Search” field, which can be found immediately above the “Region”/”City”/”URL” fields. Your results can be (re)organized according to each of the column titles in the database’s header row (or row 1). Once you identify an entry you’re interested in exploring, simply click on “LAUNCH” on the far-right-hand corner of the database and you’ll be taken to your selected digitized primary source. If you’re interested in saving (or exporting) a list of several sources, you can use the “Excel” or “PDF” buttons provided above the database, which will generate a downloadable file featuring all of the relevant information.

We hope that this updated research tools is useful for you and your students, especially during this time of limited physical access to Italy’s archives and libraries. Buona ricerca.