College of DuPage Library

Many of the following books are all available electronically. You will need a current library card to access books online. Please note that some books are available for one simultaneous user only. Titles of books available in print will include the call number.

E-books: There are several e-books listed below. You'll need a current COD library card to access these books. You can also search and browse our e-book collections for additional titles here

Travel Guides

• Escape to Tuscany
  General DG732 .G53 2001

• Fodor's Exploring Tuscany
  General DG732 .F63 2005

• Fodor's Italy
  General DG416 .I817 2009

• Florence & Tuscany e-book
• Frommer's Italy
  General DG416 .F74 2012

• Hidden Tuscany : Unusual Destinations and Secret Places
  General DG732 .L77 1999

• Insight Guides - Italy
  General DG416 .I83 2011

• The Most Beautiful Country Towns of Tuscany
  General DG734.23 .B46 2001

• Time Out Florence & the Best of Tuscany
  General DG732 .T56 2001

• Top 10 Florence & Tuscany e-book
• Walking in Italy
  General GV199.44.I8 W35 1998

• Walking in Tuscany : Etruscan Trails in Old Etruria
  General DG732 .P74 2000

Arts & Architecture

• Architecture and Memory: the Renaissance Studioli of Federico de Montefeltro e-book
• An Art Lover's Guide to Florence
  General N6921.F7 T47 2012

• Italy : The Essential Guide to Viewing Italian Renaissance Art
  General N6914 .M67 2004

• Painting in Late Medieval and Renaissance Siena (1260-1555)
  General ND621.S6 N67 2003

• Painting in Renaissance Siena, 1420-1500
  General ND 621 .S6 C47 1988

Culture

• Bella Tuscany : The Sweet Life in Italy
  General DG734.23 .M378 1999

• Culture and Customs of Italy e-book
• Culture Shock - Italy!
  General DG451 .F35 2001

• Music and Culture in Italy from the Middle Ages to the Baroque: A Collection of Essays e-book
• Regions of Italy : A Reference Guide to History & Culture e-book
• Tuscany and its Wines
  General TP559.I8 J64 2000

• Under the Tuscan Sun : At Home in Italy
  General DG734.23 .M38 1998

• Tuscany : The Beautiful Cookbook : Authentic Recipes from the Provinces of Tuscany e-book
  General TX723.2.T86 D4 1992

• Venice, The Tourist Maze: A Cultural Critique of the World's Most Touristed City e-book
• Wines of Italy
  General TP559.I8 A58 2002

History and Geography

• The Building of Renaissance Florence: An Economic and Social History e-book
• The Cult of Remembrance and the Black Death: Six Renaissance Cities in Central Italy e-book
• The Economy of Renaissance Florence e-book
• Florence Ducal Capital, 1530-1630 e-book
• The History of Italy e-book
• From Poliziano to Machiavelli: Florentine Humanism in the High Renaissance e-book
• Heirs, Kin, and Creditors in Renaissance Florence e-book
• The Medici State and the Ghetto of Florence: The Construction of an Early Modern Jewish Community e-book
• The Origins of the State of Italy, 1300-1600 e-book
• Power and Imagination: City-states in Renaissance Italy e-book
• A Provincial Elite in Early Modern Tuscany : Family and Power in the Creation of the State e-book
  General JN5276 .B45 1996

• Renaissance Florence e-book

Streaming Videos

• Academic Video Online
  Find hundreds of newsreel footage and documentaries on Italy. Subjects include culture, politics, history and current events. Refine your search results by limiting your results to, for example, discipline, subject and historical era. These limiters are located on the left side of page.
  

• Ethnographic Video Online
• Films On Demand

Many films on Italy, primarily from the perspective of Business, current and historical footage.

E-book Collections

E-books are published using a variety of platforms - some can be accessed using tablet readers.

Searching Collections:

These collections can be searched by using the keyword "Italy" for broad search results. Adding keywords such as, for example, "History" or "Culture" to your search will produce fewer results but these results will be more precise.

Many, but not all, books in these collections can also be located and accessed by searching in the Library's book catalog.

• ebrary

Many e-books can be viewed from your computer or downloaded to your e-book reader. You need to create an account to download -books to your device.

• EBSCO e-book collection

Find several e-books on Italy covering various subjects such as Culture and Society, History, Politics and Literature. NOTE: Books can be viewed by single page on a computer, or, can be downloaded to an -book reader. You'll be prompted to create an EBSCO account. The loan period for e-books is four hours. Books can be renewed after the initial loan period expires.

• Humanities (ACLS) E-book Collection

This resource includes over 1500 full-text, cross-searchable books in the humanities selected by scholars for their continuing importance for research and teaching. Pages from this collection can be printed and emailed.

Databases - Best Bets

Below are databases covering Art, History and general topics. You can access these databases from the alphabetical listing of databases

• Academic Search Complete

Academic Search Complete provides both scholarly and popular journal coverage for nearly all academic areas of study and is a great resource for general research.
The search screen can be changed to Italian language: Top-right of screen, under "Languages" select "Italiano"

• AcademicOneFile

Academic OneFile is great for both popular and peer-reviewed full-text articles from the world's leading journals and reference sources, and is an excellent resource for general research.
The search screen can be changed to Italian language: Top-center of screen, under "English" select "Italiano"

Art And Architecture Complete

Excellent source for information on Italian artists, famous works of art by Italian artists and Italian art traditions.

Credo Reference

Credo Reference is a full-text online reference service. The collection includes over three million entries from hundreds of well-regarded titles from some of world's the best reference publishers.

JSTOR

JSTOR is an archive of digitized journal articles ranging in date from the 1700s to the early 2000s. These collections span a variety of subjects in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Physical Sciences.

Literature Resource Center

Literature Resource Center provides access to biographies and criticism of authors from every age and literary discipline. The Literature Resource Center covers more than 120,000 novelists, poets, essayists, journalists, and other writers, with in-depth coverage of 2,500 of the most-studied authors.

Oxford Art Online

This resource includes the full-text of:
Grove Art Online
Oxford Companion to Western Art
Encyclopedia of Aesthetics
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms

Websites - Guidebooks and Area Studies

• Conde Nast Traveler - Italy
  Free travel information for Italy, organized by city and region. Includes information on hotels, restaurants, nightlife and cultural attractions.

• Fodor's Italy
  Organized by region and city, Fodor's Italy provides many useful tips for travelers in Italy. Essential Italian phrases for travelers, tips for eating and staying in Italy, and links to historical sites and top attractions are of note.

• National Geographic - Italy
  Find facts, maps, photos and videos on Italy. NOTE - You will need to create an account to access all free content on this site.

• NY Times Italy Travel Guide
  Articles, photos and video about Italy from The New York Times, including hotel, restaurant and attraction information with reader reviews and advice on where to stay, where to eat and what to do.

• Rick Steves' Italy
  Plenty of useful, free information from travel guide Rick Steves. This site contains tips, photos, videos, and travel information on Italy. Included are excerpts of Steves' Italy travel guide as well as photos, tips for planning trips, and travel information for specific cities and regions.

• Michelin Travel Guide - Italy
  General information on traveling in Italy - note the sections labeled "Useful Information" and "History and Culture" in center of page.

• Yahoo Travel - Italy
  Directory arranged by "best for" categories and by city. Includes useful sections on restaurants and "What to Do" for each listed city. Provides user-written reviews.