Visit of Brazilian delegation of

OCB - Organization of Brazilian

Cooperatives

Elena Romagnoli

Bologna 16 luglio 2015

The Italian Documentation Centre on Cooperatives and Social Economy discloses

and collects valuable archive documents, bibliographic references, audio-visual

materials, as well as oral source materials concerning the origins and the

development of the Italian cooperatives movement, in order to promote a larger

knowledge and deeper rooting of the principles and values purported by

cooperatives throughout their long history.

The historic milestones of the Italian

Documentation Centre on Cooperatives and

Social Economy

• 1988 FOUNDATION The Italian Documentation Centre on Cooperatives and Social Economy was founded in Bologna under the Legacoop-Bologna Assembly deliberations in May 1988. During its life, the Centre enlarged its membership to the whole of Italy.

The historic milestones of the Italian

Documentation Centre on Cooperatives and

Social Economy

• 1994 ACQUISITION OF THE LEGACOOP LIBRARY

In 1994 the Centre acquired the National Legacoop

Library, a wealth of about 10,000 volumes and periodicals

documenting the history and the evolution of the Italian

cooperatives movement.

The historic milestones of the Italian

Documentation Centre on Cooperatives and

Social Economy

• 2002 PROTOCOL OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN

LEGACOOP AND THE ITALIAN DOCUMENTATION

CENTRE ON COOPERATIVES AND SOCIAL ECONOMY.

On May 10, 2002, Legacoop and the Italian Documentation

Centre on Cooperatives and Social Economy signed the

Protocol recognising the Centre as the organisation for the

nationwide collection, preservation and protection of

documental sources in the cooperation area.

THE RESOURCES IN OUR CENTRE

Library Section

The library possesses a wealth of more than 26,000 monographs and

periodicals. The organised, catalogued library materials mostly consist of

general monographs on cooperatives: manuals, treatises, bodies of laws,

historical accounts, publications sponsored by or concerning single

businesses. The library is unique in Italy, since it specifically collects

economic, historical materials on cooperatives.

THE RESOURCES IN OUR CENTRE

Archive Section

The Archive Section contains special collections of documents

and records from wound-up cooperatives, as well as precious

historical archives of cooperatives still operating. In essence,

the chronological coverage of materials ranges from 1945 to

date, with some special collections from the late 19th century.

ON-LINE RESOURCES

Catalogue on-line

This catalogue contains 26,000 bibliographic descriptions of monographs,

magazines, videos and graphics which can be consulted at the library. More

than 5,000 references concern reports, congresses, seminars, financial

statements, memorandums and articles of incorporation, and brochures

published by cooperative organisations and difficult to find on the

publication market.

The approximately 1,500 posters in the catalogue use slogans which,

together with their graphic design, illustrate the corporate communication

of cooperatives from the 1950’s to date. Digital pictures can be displayed

together with the corresponding bibliographic descriptions.

ON-LINE RESOURCES

Italian Bibliography Cooperatives

This data bank references more then 12.000 entries on

cooperatives: manuals, treatises, bodies of laws and

generic historical accounts on cooperatives, as well as

publications sponsored by or concerning single

businesses.

ON-LINE RESOURCES

Network

The Italian Network for cooperatives and the social

economy is a project conducted in the framework of the

events which were organised to celebrate "Bologna 2000:

European capital city of culture". The effort resulted in a

nationwide survey and mapping of the places where

documental sources on cooperatives are conserved.

ON-LINE RESOURCES

Virtual Museum of Cooperation

Not only is the virtual museum a place of history, which

documents the different expressions of cooperative thinking,

life stories, legislation and connections with foreign

cooperative movements. The virtual museum is also a window

for looking ahead, with its rooms on cooperative business

training, cooperative incorporation models, debates and press

coverage.

ON-LINE RESOURCES

Data bank of magazine “La Cooperazione Italiana”

The data base, realized by the Center, in cooperation with IBACN of

the Emilia-Romagna Region, is a digital version of the magazine “La

Cooperazione Italiana” from 1887 to 1980 including so more than

seventy years of chronicle, news, realizations, events on the Italian

cooperative movement.

ON-LINE RESOURCES

Data bank of magazine “La Cooperazione Italiana”

The magazine “La Cooperazione Italiana” was founded in Milan in

1887, as an instrument of information for cooperatives associated to

the Federation of Italian Cooperative Companies. La Cooperazione

Italiana is a precious source to study the cooperation, for

researchers, for cooperators, for teachers, for admirers, as well as for

people keen to know the history of the cooperative reality.

ON-LINE RESOURCES

The cooperation history in the photographic Archives Of Legacoop Nazionale

During 2012 the project of digitalization of the redactional photographic

archives of Editrice Cooperativa di Legacoop Nazionale was started.

At the end of the first stage the conversion of about 22.000 images (over 40.000

scans), the bibliographic cataloging of the fund will be carried out, by associating

the bibliographic description to the related immage.

Publications

The Centre develops publishing activities with a view to offering

cooperatives and local Legacoop branches the opportunity to

issue studies and researches which can circulate in the regular

book market countrywide.

Publications

• Edition series by the Italian Documentation Centre on

Cooperatives and Social Economy.

In 2000 the Centre promoted the start of a cooperative-related

book series entitled “History and Studies on Cooperatives” and

published by the Il Mulino publishing house.

Publications

• Edition series by the Italian Documentation Centre on Cooperatives

and Social Economy .

In February 2007 the Centre started this new series of books

published by the Clueb - Cooperativa Libraria Universitaria Editrice

Bologna publishing house.

UNIVERSITY - MUEC (1st-level University

Master Course on Cooperative Business

Studies)

The Italian Documentation Centre on Cooperatives and

Social Economy supports the M.U.E.C. tuition through its

library services.

Copyright

This is a competition promoted by Legacoop Bologna and

Confcooperative Bologna in conjunction with the Italian Documentation

Centre on Cooperatives and Social Economy and Irecoop Emilia Romagna.

The competition gives two Prizes, one for the best cooperative business

idea (Coopyright Impresa) and one for the best social-historical research

(Coopyright Ricerca) produced by a student class.