Engineering Branch Library

The library was established in 1972 in the former Santa Marta seminary. The initial collection was made up of donations from other public and private libraries including those of the Officine Galileo and the Engineering and Architects’ Board of Florence.

The library has increased its collection over the years to include set and course books as well as research material.

Books are held on open shelves: several copies of set and course books are available for loan and reference.

The collection of journals and directories is specifically aimed at engineering research. Nowadays most journals are accessible in their online electronic version.

In recent years, the library has steadily devoted a significant portion of its resources to orienting a portion of the monographic collection to the needs of scholarly research as well.

The library is particularly well endowed in the following disciplines: computer science, electric and electronic engineering, biomedical engineering, civil engineering and science of materials, transportation engineering, mechanical and industrial production engineering, management engineering, hydraulic and environmental engineering and construction engineering. Other areas such as economics, law, architecture, physics and mathematics are covered just for teaching purposes.

The library holds some historical collections that include rare documents:

• Officine Galileo Collection
• Engineering and Architects’ Guild of Florence Collection
• IGM Maps
• Luigi Montefusco Collection
• Alessandro Mazzoni Collection
• Enrico Fermi Collection
• Historical Collection

Since 2013, the library has begun acquiring the library holdings from former departments.

The library holds about 150 e-journals with standing subscriptions, 750 print journals, about 20 of which with a current subscription and specialised databases.

The library houses also the School's graduation theses.

Moreover, the archives of SEVES and Officine Galileo (plates) are in the process of being
catalogued. These bear testimony of the link the library has with local businesses with
internationally recognised technical know-how.

The collections totals:

• monographs: approximately 55,000 volumes, including modern, antique, and valuable books (of which 25,000 are organized on open shelves according to the Dewey Decimal Classification system)
• journals: 900 titles
• former Departments' collections: about 12,400 volumes
• graduation theses (since 1974)

  

Current books are on open shelves, organised according to the Dewey decimal classification.

On open shelves, you can also find the most recent issues of print journals in alphabetical order by title. Previous issues must be requested at the loan desk. Electronic journals and databases are also available.

For more info please consult the Service Charter of the University Library System (in Italian).

Technical regulations and standards

CEI technical standards can be accessed from the University's database portal (sba.unifi.it > Databases > Find databases: "CEI Standards") or from the OneSearch catalogue by searching "CEI Standards". It can be accessed through authentication by username and password, indicated in the description of the database (carefully read all instructions).

CNR's technical regulations are available in print format and can be requested at the loan desk. 

The UNI standards are available on-screen on the UNI website for all users of the University who request access by communicating their student or employee number and institutional email to
bibing(AT)unifi.com. The library has a few downloads per year to print a copy of the standards required for teaching or for specific reasons which can also be consulted in the library as a hard copy.

IEEE standards can be accessed from the IEEE Xplore database.

In order to borrow you need a student card or a valid photo ID.

You can borrow up to a maximum number of volumes, which varies according to your status: see borrowing rules to find out how many books you can borrow and for how long.

• the volumes with no label go on loan for 30 or 60 days depending on the type of user;
• those marked with a blue label with the letter "B" go on loan for 15 days (with renewals up to a maximum of 2 months);
• those marked with a red label with the letter "C" are reference books and do not go on loan (overnight borrowing is permitted from two hours before closing until 10 a.m. the next day or the first business day).
• Multimedia materials (CDs, DVDs) are on loan for one week (with renewals up to a maximum of 15 days).

The renewal of the loan at the date of its expiration is automatic if the book is not reserved by another user, but users can also renew the loans independently on other dates from their profile.
Reference materials, journals, rare and valuable books, technical standards and regulations are not for loan.

Late returns will incur a suspension from borrowing for a number of days equal to the days the loan is outstanding. The suspension is automatically calculated by the system.

Biblio in forma: reference service

Friday 9 am - 1 pm (in library archive, room S11, Santa Marta basement)

 

Phone +39 055 2758968;  for more info  Ask a librarian

How does the service work?

 

e-learning course: Bibing: Bibliographic search for engineering  on the Moodle platform (in english)

This is the course’s table of contents, usable in its entirety or by selecting only the topics of interest:

• Background knowledge: definitions and basic principles
• OneSearch: the University Library System's discovery tool
• Databases and other resources: the main sources for academic research
• The Reference management software: some useful tools for managing bibliographies
• The University Library System’s main services: an overview

To enrol, log in from the top right with your student number (matricola) and password, and then choose self enrolment.

For any needs, or even comments and suggestions, please contact: bibing@unifi.it

Plan of the library (click to enlarge)