This seminar will consist in a historical overview of Italian lexicography, from Medieval glossaries to online or CD-rom dictionaries. The aims of the course are the following: A) identifying the principal research instruments, and their appropriate use; B) analyzing the methodological issues in Italian Lexicography, also in comparison with other lexicographical traditions; C) understanding the ideological situations which provoked changes and evolutions in Italian Lexicography. In order to study in depth the principal research instruments (point A), the students will work under the guide of the teacher in the library and in the computer laboratory. For a better comprehension of theoretical and historical methodologies (point B), the students engage in an individual research project focusing on a particular lexicographical question.