Regional legal deposit in Italy: state of the art and results of a recent survey

Abstract

The article sets out the results of the survey conducted between October and November 2019 by the Commissione nazionale biblioteche e servizi nazionali of the AIB on Regional Legal Deposit, fifteen years after the last field research on the same subject. The Regional Legal Deposit was established by Law 106/2004 and regulated by Presidential Decree 252/2006 and two ministerial decrees of 2007 and 2009. This set of rules provides that each publisher should send several copies of its publications to certain libraries in the Region where the publishing houses are based to create a regional archive of the Italian editorial production. Regional Legal Deposit is one of the most innovative, albeit most critical and lesser-known, aspects of legal deposit regulation. In the first phase of the investigation, it was decided to make an accurate analysis of the information released by the libraries themselves, which made it possible to photograph the reality of the regional depository libraries in Italy, partially changed since 2009. The second phase of the survey consisted of an online questionnaire addressed to depository libraries, divided into nine questions – each of which included three closed responses and the opportunity to leave a comment. The survey, which obtained a good degree of participation (62%), showed a somewhat similar situation to the past, highlighting the problems of insufficient storage space, insufficient staff, lack of resources and excessive dependence on local policies. However, some of the answers to the questionnaire are encouraging: publications are sent with a certain regularity, the Regional Legal Deposit is perceived as an obligation that has also positive aspects and checks are carried out on its fulfillment. In addition emerges the importance of setting up a unified publisher database, which could facilitate the management of the Legal Deposit and provide a starting point for future synergies.