DaLib
Available
Editors
- Valeria Piano
- Barbara Del Giovane
Authors
- Valeria Piano
- Barbara Del Giovane
- Costanza Bordoni
- Francesco Cannizzaro
- Laura Giancola
- Marta Maria Perilli
Description
From the project website (accessed 2025-11-10):
Il progetto DaLiB_Dal Libro alla Biblioteca intende indagare le dinamiche di produzione, fruizione e circolazione libraria nel Mediterraneo tra il IV sec. a.C. e il III sec. d.C., seguendo la filiera del libro antico: elaborazione concettuale e produzione materiale, circolazione ed eventuale commercializzazione, conservazione e fruizione.
The DaLiB project is an open-access digital portal entirely focused on the circulation of Greek and Latin books. One section is dedicated to ancient libraries, book collections and bookshops. The portal systematically gathers literary and documentary sources to provide comprehensive information about their location, whether they were public or private, their contents, the criteria and methods of conservation and arrangement of the books, and —in the case of libraries and bookshops— their architectural features.
Libraries, bookshops and book collections are geo-located on a map of the Mediterranean. For each, users will find a general information sheet, a list of related literary and documentary sources, details of any papyrological findings in situ, and a reference bibliography. Where possible, this information is accompanied by a brief archaeological description, which gives an account of the excavations carried out and the current state of conservation of the site, often supported by photographs.
Its ultimate aim is to provide a tool that, by presenting the sources in a synoptic framework, fosters a deeper comprehension of the transmission of knowledge and the circulation of literary, philosophical, and scientific works in the ancient world.
Modelling
The IT platform, specifically designed and developed for this project within the Laboratorio di Informatica Umanistica (DILEF, Università degli studi di Firenze), uses intranet/internet technology and features an architecture based on three environments: the cataloguing and control environment, intended for use by the researchers involved in the project; the procedures for indexing and consolidating the data in preparation for publication; the public environment for publishing and consulting the database.
The platform’s IT project was overseen by Giovanni Salucci and Maurizio Rago. The dissemination project via DOI was curated by Giovanni Salucci in collaboration with Benedetta Fontanella. The platform used is WCM by progettinrete, configured and customized by MRX srl.
Bibliography
- Barbara Del Giovane, Valeria Piano, e AA.VV., DaLiB_Dal Libro alla Biblioteca. Banca dati sulle biblioteche, sulle librerie e sui fondi librari greci e romani, Firenze, 2023 [1]. DOI: 10.35948/DILEF/Dalib/DB/db0.