Bibliographic resources and services to be shared with the community

VQR 2020–2024 Case Study

The TSA Hub (Trieste-A) of the University of Trieste is a network of libraries located in Friuli Venezia Giulia, coordinated by the University of Trieste Library System.

The TSA Hub is part of the National Library Service (SBN), the most important network of Italian libraries, which collaborate under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture.

The aim of the SBN is to provide a single access point to the documents held by the member libraries, through a shared national catalogue.

Since 1993, the University of Trieste, under agreements signed with various partners, has been responsible for the technical and organisational management of the Hub and for communication with the Central Institute for the Union Catalogue (ICCU), an official body of the Ministry of Culture that coordinates SBN at national level.

Currently, the TSA Hub comprises 127 libraries, belonging to 48 institutions throughout the region.

The TSA Hub libraries differ widely in their features and functions: they include ministerial, school, local authority, private association, and religious community libraries. All of them interact with the SBN Index, participating in Italy’s most important collective cataloguing system.

When registering with one of the TSA Hub libraries, users gain access to all other libraries in the network and to all their services. The catalogue of all documents held by the TSA Hub’s member institutions can be consulted on the Biblioest.it portal, where users can also find information about the libraries, events, and reading suggestions. Since 2020, prompted by the restrictions on in-person access to library services imposed by the pandemic emergency, the TSA Hub has developed increasingly remote and user-driven services:

• self-registration for online services has been enabled on the portal
• the range of content available through digital lending has been expanded
• a new portal, BiblioUniTS, specifically designed for university users, has been launched
• the University of Trieste and the Municipality jointly activated the Network Loan service, which allows books to be requested from one library and delivered to or returned at another, offering users maximum flexibility and reducing travel, with a positive environmental impact;
• a “Ask the Library” page has been added to the portals, enabling users to make service-related enquiries remotely and receive answers from a team of expert librarians
• access procedures to library services have been simplified: library membership cards are no longer the sole means of identification, as users can now also log in with their tax code or electronic ID card.

From 2024, the TSA Hub also offers its users the MediaLibraryOnline (MLOL) service, a platform providing access to a digital newsstand, general-interest e-books, and a wide range of digital resources, catering to the diverse interests of TSA Hub users.

The service provided by the TSA Hub allows the citizens of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region to feel fully culturally represented and at home in all the libraries that are part of the system.

The sailing ship of knowledge

Transoceanic navigation in the modern age has been at the heart of various scientific projects conducted by the GSR-Global Sea Routes research group of the Department of Humanities. One particular study focused on the circumnavigation voyage of the frigate Novara (1857–1859), which is also known for having transported Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg and his wife Charlotte to Veracruz in 1864, where they were crowned Emperor and Empress of Mexico.

The project activities involved collaboration with the Municipality of Trieste (Maritime Museum and Natural History Museum), the Tartini Conservatoire, the Trieste branch of the Italian Naval League, the Aldebaran Club, and especially the Historical Museum of the Miramare Park and Castle, to which the Novara is inextricably linked. In Miramare, Archduke Maximilian built his residence—now the Castle—where he personally oversaw all the preparations of the frigate for the expedition.

The Kosmos Exhibition at Miramare

Thanks to a close partnership with Miramare Castle, the research has been further enhanced from a public history perspective. The exhibition Kosmos – The sailing ship of knowledge was held at the Miramare Stables (December 2023 – June 2024): a spectacular and innovative set-up featuring high-tech instruments to show how navigation has contributed to scientific knowledge and continues to inspire and challenge many scholars. The exhibition included digital installations by GSR, scale models, and dioramas allowing visitors to experience life on board a ship adapted for a major scientific expedition. The title pays tribute to Alexander von Humboldt and his most famous work: Kosmos. A comprehensive catalogue was published for the exhibition and is now available in bookstores (Kosmos. Il veliero della conoscenza, Silvana Editoriale, 2023), focusing on scientific expeditions and particularly on the voyage of the frigate Novara.

Multimedia Outputs

The project also led to the creation of various interactive multimedia tools (available on the Global Sea Routes website), developed from research conducted within the GSR project, funded by the PRIN–Projects of Relevant National Interest in 2017 and 2020, with the support of the Municipality of Trieste–Civic Maritime Museum. This allowed the development of a database describing European trade routes to Asia from 1600 to 1832, showing how they evolved and became interconnected on a global scale.

The bilingual website (Italian and English) also provides a comprehensive and interactive overview of the Novara expedition, featuring a detailed 3D model of the ship: thanks to 3D technology, it can be explored in all its parts, from the rigging and main deck to the holds. The website also features a georeferenced and interactive timeline, enabling users to follow the progress of the circumnavigation through time and space, with detailed descriptions of each stage of the journey. Every port visited by the Novara includes excerpts from travel accounts and information about the scientific activities carried out by the scholars on board. Users can also consult a wide selection of historical materials, including books and documents in German, Italian, and English, recounting the expedition and its impact on 19th-century Europe. Introductory videos and tutorials are available to help visitors navigate the site and use the various interactive tools. GSR’s most recent digital output is a geodatabase that displays, in a georeferenced and mappable format, all encounters during the voyage and the collections of various materials—both naturalistic and documentary—gathered by the Novara and the scientists who took part in the expedition.

To facilitate access to the materials and open a communication space on the project’s themes, a blog was created and a YouTube channel was launched, hosting all the audiovisual materials produced—some integrated into the digital reconstruction of the Novara, others created specifically for educational and outreach purposes.

This project not only makes accessible unique historical information that is key to understanding the evolution of global trade and the flow of knowledge and culture through the centuries, but also represents a valuable social resource, offering data and content that might otherwise be difficult to find or interpret, in a novel and interactive way. In addition to gaining international recognition through conferences, seminars, and various presentations, it also stands as a successful example of collaboration between academia and local institutions—in this case, the Maritime and Natural History Museums of the Municipality of Trieste—opening avenues for partnerships with international museum institutions.

Identifying architectural solutions for the well-being of people with neurodivergence or sensory atypicality to enable them to lead as independent a life as possible and to be part of the community. This is the goal of an initiative developed between 2021 and 2026 by academic staff from the Department of Engineering and Architecture at the University of Trieste, in collaboration with the ProgettoAutismo Friuli Venezia Giulia Onlus Foundation, through two research projects: Senshome, focused on residential spaces, and Besenshome, centred on spaces for collective use.

As part of the two projects, two co-design workshops were held—a practice involving the active participation of the people who will benefit from the activity and its outcomes. Individuals supported by the ProgettoAutismo Foundation were involved in designing spaces, furniture, and objects, going beyond methods such as the user-centred design approach or inclusive and accessible design. Co-design, in fact, does not seek solutions that merely meet needs perceived as deficits of people with disabilities, but rather takes into account their desires, preferences, and visions, acknowledging their role as creative experts in the design process.

Each workshop, lasting around six weeks, involved young adults with a diagnosis of high-functioning autism who attend the Foundation’s day centre, and who designed their ideal spaces—also using scale models.

The participants in the first workshop lived with their parents but were working and enjoyed a good level of autonomy. Through the co-design practice, they imagined and designed spaces for a potential independent life. The second workshop focused on public spaces (stations, airports, shopping centres, museums), identifying areas particularly challenging from a sensory point of view and defining the characteristics of potential refuge spaces, which, if placed within waiting rooms and entrance areas, could offer reassuring resting places allowing for sensory rebalancing.

The workshops confirmed some findings from the literature on so-called autism-friendly architecture, but also revealed several discrepancies between participants’ preferences and existing studies. This has proved highly valuable for research and confirms the usefulness and necessity of directly involving those concerned.

Outcomes of the Senshome Project

Senshome led to the creation of a prototype flat with furnishings developed through the user-centred design approach. The furnishings integrate smart home and sensor technologies, supporting as independent a life as possible for neurodivergent individuals and for older adults with cognitive decline, while reducing the need for the caregiver’s presence. The prototype included sensors capable of detecting various issues within the home, developed by Eureka System, one of the project partners.

Outcomes of the Besenshome Project

The second project (Besenshome) resulted in the creation of a refuge space from sensory overload, integrated into the exhibition route of the Immaginario Scientifico, the science museum in Trieste. At the centre of this space is a cocoon-shaped seat designed to accommodate up to two people and to allow different postures, including turning away from the surrounding environment. Its inner lining, made from sound-absorbing material, affects the sound field experienced by the seated person, keeping external noise in the background.

Any visitor can now experience the value of this refuge corner to recalibrate their sensory balance before re-entering the museum visit route.

Contacts
Department of Engineering and Architecture
Prof. Giuseppina Scavuzzo