Research and Documentation in Italy at the Dawn of the Digital Age

The Institute for the Study of Scientific Research and Documentation (ISRDS) was located in Rome. Among the many achievements of the ISRDS between 1968 and the beginning of the new century, this article focuses particularly on the Archivio Collettivo Nazionale dei Periodici (National Collective Archive of Periodicals), an online public access catalogue specifically devoted to periodicals. Now that its founder and director, Paolo Bisogno, has passed away and the ISRDS no longer exists, and even the headquarters have been converted to commercial and private use, it is time to ask what should be done, what actions should be taken and what research should be continued in order to safeguard an important part of European documentation history.