Roberta Monetti
From Academic Archive to Public Resource: Third Mission Strategy Using Phaidra for Historical Dissemination
CASREC, the University Centre for the History of the Resistance and the Contemporary Age at the University of Padua, has had amongst its principal aims since its establishment what we now call the Third Mission: disseminating its heritage to the public.
The Centre, incorporated within the University of Padua since 2014, has indeed inherited the material and ideological legacy of the Veneto Institute for the History of the Resistance, founded in 1949 by the protagonists of the Resistance in Padua and the Veneto region, to keep alive amongst scholars and the civilian population the memory of what occurred in this territory during the struggle against Nazi-Fascism from 1943 to 1945.
It is therefore a point of reference for academic scholars, researchers and students, but also for ordinary citizens who find memories of the past in its historical archive, comprising documents from various partisan formations, photographs, posters and leaflets.
A very important role in Third Mission activities has been played in recent years by the Phaidra digital repository, which has enabled the Centre to reach a vast audience by making available to scholars and citizens, including those from outside the local area, part of Casrec's extensive heritage.
The presentation will showcase some examples of Phaidra's use by this cultural centre, particularly the inclusion of collections of leaflets and clandestine publications from partisan formations, the precious collection of posters from the Italian Social Republic, the photographic archive, including the latest collection relating to the Sergio Nave collection, with its compilation of images of Allied aerial bombardments on Padua and the surrounding territory.
About
Roberta Monetti holds a PhD in Historical Sciences and works as an Archivist at Casrec – the University Centre for the History of the Resistance and the Contemporary Age at the University of Padua.
A graduate of the School of Archival Studies, Palaeography and Diplomatics at the Venice State Archive, she has specialised in digitisation through a Master's degree in Training, Management and Conservation of Digital Archives at the University of Macerata. She is registered on the National Lists of Cultural Heritage Professionals of the Ministry of Culture as a First-Class Archivist.
As head of Casrec's historical archive, she oversees the management and conservation of the archive, provides research support to scholars, and handles communication activities including educational programmes for schools and the general public.