Torrossa

With Torrossa, Casalini Libri has launched a full-text platform that is competitive in the international online academic publishing space. The content of Torrossa is unique: through its Editoria Italiana Online (EIO) and various publisher-based collections, it offers the most complete online access to Italian scholarly publications in the Humanities and Social Sciences. More recently, the Italian content has been expanded with the launch of the Edición Española Online (EEO) and a number of publisher-based Spanish collections. Though select Italian publishers are developing their own online databases, there is currently no alternative on the market and Torrossa’s breadth and quality of content is convincing. On the other hand, the current model of providing low cost access (when considering the price per title) to a number of preselected packages does not permit libraries actively acquiring Italian monographic publications to fully integrate the online offering in their collection development policies. Eventually, it is hoped that forms of approval or demand driven acquisitions plans, as well as title by title selection will become possible. On the technical side, Torrossa is flexible, complex, and fast, and provides a rich array of features that correspond to current standards, though there are glitches that detract from the overall positive experience. In particular, one would expect greater authority control and greater flexibility in the navigation of the site and use of the browser back button.