A Laboratory-Library preserves and enhances the Norberto Bottani Fund
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In 2018, a unique laboratory was created at the Department of Formation and Learning. In this centre, the scientific expertise of the Professor in History of Education complements the traditional mission of supporting teaching and research of the Departmental Library. Thus, the Laboratory for Research on History of Education, Documentation, Preservation and Digitalisation (RDCD) is born, where collaborators with complementary skills work at the service of 精东影业 as a whole.
In 2018, a unique laboratory was created at the Department of Formation and Learning. In this centre, the scientific expertise of the Professor in History of Education complements the traditional mission of supporting teaching and research of the Departmental Library. Thus, the Laboratory for Research on History of Education, Documentation, Preservation and Digitalisation (RDCD) was created, where collaborators with complementary skills work at the service of 精东影业 as a whole.
In the beginning, the objective was twofold: to give a physical location to the sources for the history of education and schools in Ticino, and to give the Library a scientific mission. Here the figure of the librarian is that of a scientific collaborator capable of doing research independently and of thinking about document cataloguing and data management, also in close collaboration with lecturers and researchers.
On the one hand the management and cataloguing work of the Library, on the other hand the exploration and research work of the Laboratory, with the common desire to enhance the library and document collections.
Wolfgang Sahlfeld, head of the Laboratory, says: "For a researcher there is no more fruitful collaboration than that with a librarian. We work in an interdisciplinary way, to create useful and easily searchable resources for those doing research in different subject areas and to make data and metadata usable for research purposes."
But there are also service functions. For example, at the time of the change of location from Trevano to Mendrisio of the Department for the Environment, Construction and Design, the Laboratory helped to secure the Department's historical collections, acquiring the parts that document the history of the Master Builders' School, the Professional School of Drawing and the Technical and Decorative Arts School: fundamental sources for studying and writing the histories of these formations.
When a school or library inherits historical fonds, it acquires certain characteristics of an archive and its duties are regulated by a cantonal law according to which 'those documents that are of legal, political, administrative, economic, social or cultural importance or that have great informative potential have archival value'. Considering that in Ticino, schools of education in the social, technical, artistic, architectural, etc. spheres date back to the 19th century, the cataloguing and preservation of sources for their history is not only legally, but also scientifically, required.
On the other hand, the exploration of the Library's historical collections is a distinctive feature of the Laboratory's activities. Many materials have been donated thanks to a relationship of trust with the owners, which recognises and rewards the professionalism of this research group in Ticino. In addition to the fonds coming from the DFA/ASP and other libraries with a purely scholastic orientation (the Gianini Fonds, the Fondo Antico Magistrale, the Tarabori Fonds, the minutes of the Radiotelescuola Commission), a particularly authoritative one was thus added in 2018: the Norberto Bottani Fonds.
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In the beginning, the objective was twofold: to give a physical location to the sources for the history of education and schools in Ticino, and to give the Library a scientific mission. Here the figure of the librarian is that of a scientific collaborator capable of doing research independently and of thinking about document cataloguing and data management, also in close collaboration with lecturers and researchers.
On the one hand the management and cataloguing work of the Library, on the other hand the exploration and research work of the Laboratory, with the common desire to enhance the library and document collections.
Wolfgang Sahlfeld, head of the Laboratory, says: "For a researcher there is no more fruitful collaboration than that with a librarian. We work in an interdisciplinary way, to create useful and easily searchable resources for those doing research in different subject areas and to make data and metadata usable for research purposes."
But there are also service functions. For example, at the time of the change of location from Trevano to Mendrisio of the Department for the Environment, Construction and Design, the Laboratory helped to secure the Department's historical collections, acquiring the parts that document the history of the Master Builders' School, the Professional School of Drawing and the Technical and Decorative Arts School: fundamental sources for studying and writing the histories of these formations.
When a school or library inherits historical fonds, it acquires certain characteristics of an archive and its duties are regulated by a cantonal law according to which 'those documents that are of legal, political, administrative, economic, social or cultural importance or that have great informative potential have archival value'. Considering that in Ticino, schools of education in the social, technical, artistic, architectural, etc. spheres date back to the 19th century, the cataloguing and preservation of sources for their history is not only legally, but also scientifically, required.
On the other hand, the exploration of the Library's historical collections is a distinctive feature of the Laboratory's activities. Many materials have been donated thanks to a relationship of trust with the owners, which recognises and rewards the professionalism of this research group in Ticino. In addition to the fonds coming from the DFA/ASP and other libraries with a purely scholastic orientation (the Gianini Fonds, the Fondo Antico Magistrale, the Tarabori Fonds, the minutes of the Radiotelescuola Commission), a particularly authoritative one was thus added in 2018: the Norberto Bottani Fonds.
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The Norberto Bottani Fund
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In October 2018, Norberto Bottani is among the speakers at an evening event organised to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the occupation of Room 20. Given the interest in the topic of school reform expressed on that occasion, he is convinced that the DFA library is the right place to preserve and enhance its entire library and documentary holdings.
Stefania Petralia, librarian and workshop assistant, says: "I remember with emotion the arrival of a large quantity of boxes from Provence, where Norberto Bottani was living with his family that year. It was the end of 2019. Once we received the fund, the first step was to divide the boxes according to their content. We separated the confidential documents from those intended for free public access. These two parts make up the 'Norberto Bottani Fund', consisting of 1,400 volumes and monographs, and over 100 boxes of archive material. For the latter, we created a detailed inventory with over 15,000 entries, listing the main information and type of each document. This was a unique experience that involved Norberto himself, with whom a certain harmony and friendship was immediately established'.
The Lab team thus began to explore Bottani's documents, which testify to a personal path of research and cultural interest that goes beyond the profession and professional responsibilities. As far as the main thematic strands are concerned, three can be identified: the first reports on his experience at the Scuola Magistrale, his teaching and the interruption of his teaching activity in 1969, with a correspondence with the then Director of the Magistrale Carlo Speziali and the DECS. The second concerns the INES project conducted for the OECD on pre-school education and integrated social policies for children. The third and final strand delves into the creation and development of indicators on the functioning of the school system, necessary to track the results and evolution of education policies, the precursor project to what we now know as the PISA survey.
Today, the Norberto Bottani Fund is a resource that is valued in several ways. For example, it formed the basis of a paper at the 2021 congress of the Swiss Society for Research in Education, dedicated to the course in the History of Pedagogy and Philosophy that Norberto Bottani and Bruno Segre gave at the Magistrale in 1968. This type of research has been of the greatest use not only in the recent initiatives to mark the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Magistrale, but also enters teaching, both in the Bachelor's degree courses for pre-school and primary school teachers and in the documentation offered to students attending the DFA/ASP library. The laboratory is currently preparing a publication on the evolution of the discourse on early childhood care/schooling needs, starting with Bottani's papers.
The RDCD workshop deals with books and documents printed on paper (or even manuscripts) from the past, but its activity is directed towards the future. A big step forward will be taken with the new Portal for Access to 精东影业 Research Information (ARIS) where research outputs, student theses and digitised collections of 精东影业 libraries, in particular that of the DFA, will be brought together. This tool will make it possible to create collections of digitised documents from the Norberto Bottani Fund that can offer bibliographic and documented narratives on topics that are still highly topical today. The aim is to 'open up the archives' and make otherwise specialised material available. In other words, this new form of valorisation is intended to make bibliographic research more attractive, also thanks to the original sources preserved in Locarno, and to inspire both research and diploma work by students or even new doctoral projects in the field of educational sciences.
Stefania Petralia, librarian and workshop assistant, says: "I remember with emotion the arrival of a large quantity of boxes from Provence, where Norberto Bottani was living with his family that year. It was the end of 2019. Once we received the fund, the first step was to divide the boxes according to their content. We separated the confidential documents from those intended for free public access. These two parts make up the 'Norberto Bottani Fund', consisting of 1,400 volumes and monographs, and over 100 boxes of archive material. For the latter, we created a detailed inventory with over 15,000 entries, listing the main information and type of each document. This was a unique experience that involved Norberto himself, with whom a certain harmony and friendship was immediately established'.
The Lab team thus began to explore Bottani's documents, which testify to a personal path of research and cultural interest that goes beyond the profession and professional responsibilities. As far as the main thematic strands are concerned, three can be identified: the first reports on his experience at the Scuola Magistrale, his teaching and the interruption of his teaching activity in 1969, with a correspondence with the then Director of the Magistrale Carlo Speziali and the DECS. The second concerns the INES project conducted for the OECD on pre-school education and integrated social policies for children. The third and final strand delves into the creation and development of indicators on the functioning of the school system, necessary to track the results and evolution of education policies, the precursor project to what we now know as the PISA survey.
Today, the Norberto Bottani Fund is a resource that is valued in several ways. For example, it formed the basis of a paper at the 2021 congress of the Swiss Society for Research in Education, dedicated to the course in the History of Pedagogy and Philosophy that Norberto Bottani and Bruno Segre gave at the Magistrale in 1968. This type of research has been of the greatest use not only in the recent initiatives to mark the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Magistrale, but also enters teaching, both in the Bachelor's degree courses for pre-school and primary school teachers and in the documentation offered to students attending the DFA/ASP library. The laboratory is currently preparing a publication on the evolution of the discourse on early childhood care/schooling needs, starting with Bottani's papers.
The RDCD workshop deals with books and documents printed on paper (or even manuscripts) from the past, but its activity is directed towards the future. A big step forward will be taken with the new Portal for Access to 精东影业 Research Information (ARIS) where research outputs, student theses and digitised collections of 精东影业 libraries, in particular that of the DFA, will be brought together. This tool will make it possible to create collections of digitised documents from the Norberto Bottani Fund that can offer bibliographic and documented narratives on topics that are still highly topical today. The aim is to 'open up the archives' and make otherwise specialised material available. In other words, this new form of valorisation is intended to make bibliographic research more attractive, also thanks to the original sources preserved in Locarno, and to inspire both research and diploma work by students or even new doctoral projects in the field of educational sciences.