By the decision of the Interdepartmental Council for the Development of Librarianship of the Russian Federation under the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation in 2022 the Russian State Library (RSL) was instructed to start work on the formation of registers of educational programmes of higher education and additional professional education for library specialists in a dedicated section of the portal of the federal state information system “National Electronic Library”.

At the beginning of 2024, the RSL conducted a pilot study to obtain information on secondary vocational education (SVE) programmes offered to librarians. A register of information on SVE programmes has not yet been created. As of June 2024, 41 educational institutions of secondary vocational education (colleges) implement 106 library programmes.

The Register of the current main educational programmes of higher education implemented in the field of “Library and Information Activities” includes information on 75 educational programmes of higher education (bachelor’s and master’s degrees) of higher educational institutions in 34 subjects of the Russian Federation, including two new subjects of the Russian Federation — Donetsk People’s Republic and Lugansk People’s Republic (as of April 2024).

In the Register of existing educational programmes of professional development and professional retraining for library specialists there are 278 programmes (32 professional retraining programmes and 246 professional development programmes), which are implemented in 35 subjects of the Russian Federation by almost 50 institutions of various types (as of April 2024).

The needs of public libraries of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in library specialists with higher profile education account for more than half of the total needs in library specialists.

Let us analyze the data obtained as a result of the All-Russian monitoring of staffing needs in the library sphere conducted by the RSL. The needs for professionals with secondary vocational education account for one third. Almost all subjects of the Russian Federation — participants of the monitoring also indicated the need for library specialists with secondary or higher non-core education and core additional education. At the same time, it was revealed that higher profile education is preferable for library staff.

The data presented in the article, considered in the aggregate, allow assessing the state of the educational space of Russian librarians, as well as identifying the problems of training specialists for the library and information sphere.

On 8—9 October 2024 the Russian State Library (RSL) hosted the All-Russian meeting on the application and modification of the Library and Bibliographic Classification (LBC) Medium Tables. The event was attended by specialists from national, federal and regional public libraries, as well as representatives of scientific organisations and publishers. It was possible to participate in the meeting remotely using videoconferencing.

The topics of the meeting covered a wide range of issues related to the use of the LBC Medium Tables in practical cataloguing, as well as the current state and prospects for further development of the national classification system.

Within the framework of the event four round tables were organized: “The Concept of the Second Edition of the LBC Medium Tables”, “Application of the LBC Medium Tables: Experience of Organisation and Work Technology”, “Prospects of LBC Tables Development in the Conditions of Digital Transformation of Libraries” and “Personnel: Professional Development, Methodological Support, Corporate Interaction”. The meetings were accompanied by online broadcasting on the official page of the RSL in the social network “VKontakte”.

The event resulted in the adoption of the Recommendations of the All-Russian Meeting on the Application and Modification of the Medium Tables of the Library and Bibliographic Classification. The document includes an appeal to the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation to recognize the LBC as a state classification, recommendations on the development of documents defining the prospects of the system development, etc. The collected materials of the meeting will be issued by the publishing house of the Russian State Library “Pashkov Dom”.

In the middle of the 20th century in our country the national Library and Bibliographic Classification (LBC) tables for universal and specialized scientific libraries were published for the purpose of organizing book collections, catalogues, card catalogues, bibliographic descriptions in indexes. During its existence, a system of scientific and specialized versions of classification tables for libraries of different types, depending on the acquisition of their collections, has been created. At present the LBC exists in three main variants: full, medium and abridged schedules, which differ in the degree of detail and depth of disclosure of content, but are consistent with each other in structure and indexing. They also preserve the principle grouping and sequence of sciences in the main series: first comes the natural sciences cycle, then the applied and technical sciences, and finally the social and humanities cycle.

Classification as a form of knowledge organisation has the task of revealing the content of printed works in the most complete way. The cognitive nature of library classification is connected with the development of science and changes in its various fields, with the change of scientific paradigms, the formation of new research directions, approaches and methods, with interpretations of modern phenomena. The arrangement of knowledge about the surrounding world is based on the provisions, rules, principles and methodological foundations laid in the classification as tools of cognition.

The article analyses the socio-humanities complex in the LBC Middle tables, taking into account the changes in the sciences for a comprehensive disclosure of the content of the works of print.

An overview of phygitalization tools in some library and bibliographic processes is presented. The article briefly discusses the concept of phygitalization. The experience of digital humanities in library-bibliographic research is analyzed. Virtual bibliographic assistants as tools of phygitalization in libraries are listed (popular resources: EndNote, Mendeley, Zotero — comparison of their characteristics is given, less popular resources: ReadCube Papers, RefWorks, Sciwheel, Paperpile. A comparative analysis of specific information services according to a number of criteria is presented. Some successes of phygitalization in library and bibliographic service of users are noted. The problems of development of this emerging trend, its gradual growth into a well-established trend and prospects for wider spread of phygitalization in domestic libraries are formulated. It is shown that phygitalization in public and academic libraries brings many innovations that transform traditional library services.

Arguments are given for the fact that the digital services analyzed in the article are exactly the tools of phygitalization of library and bibliographic activities. 1. All these services are digital tools that integrate with traditional methods of working with information, improving them and making them more efficient. 2. Digital services make information more accessible by allowing users to receive and process data regardless of their physical location. 3. These tools provide a user experience that can be personalized to specific needs and preferences. 4. Virtual bibliographic assistants support online collaboration, which combines elements of physical interaction with digital communication tools.

In the context of the national cultural heritage the author considers the urgent problem of preservation of library collections on the example of the National Library of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) (NL RS (Ya)). The author emphasizes the key role of the library in working with periodicals of Yakutia as part of the documentary heritage of the peoples of Russia. Periodicals of Yakutia are an important component of the national and local history collection of the NL RS (Ya). From the standpoint of source study, periodicals are valuable historical, cultural and book studies material. At the same time, newspapers and magazines, especially the retrospective part of periodicals, are subject to the most severe physical deterioration. At present, the library is carrying out a whole range of works aimed at saving the collection of periodicals in Yakutia.

The NL RS (Ya) won the All-Russian open competition of the Russian State Library among the libraries of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation for the establishment of the Regional Conservation and Restoration Centre. The Regional Centre of Conservation and Restoration was opened in Yakutsk on 10 October 2024.

The article presents in detail the projects “Give new life to Yakutia’s newspapers” and “Bibliography of the content of local history periodicals of Yakutia” implemented by the library. Special attention is paid to the library’s work on creating conditions for full and open access for readers to the entire collection of periodicals of Yakutia. Examples of using modern technologies in the library environment are given. Digitalization and introduction of artificial intelligence will make the work on preservation and promotion of the cultural heritage of the region more effective. The initiatives undertaken by the NL RS (Ya) may be useful for other libraries in Russia.

The activity of Count N.P. Rumyantsev as the head (chief director) of the Department of Water Communications (1801—1809) is considered. The functions of the institution are described. The content of the “Note on Water Communications” submitted by the director in 1801 to the State Council is characterized: it contains information about the history and condition of hydraulic engineering objects, about the purpose for which the project was created and, if it was not completed, about the expected result. The most important projects (including the Mariinsky Canal) implemented by the Department during the period of N.P. Rumyantsev’s administration are listed and selectively reviewed. Based on unpublished materials from the Russian State Historical Archive, the history of the “resumption” of the Ivanovsky Canal, the construction of which, begun under Peter the Great, was stopped before completion, is summarized. The contribution of prominent hydraulic engineers engaged by N.P. Rumyantsev to implement the project is highlighted, including F.P. de Wollant, who carried out a preliminary survey of the canal route, and the project developer Ch.I. Trousson. The key rescripts of Emperor Alexander I, given by him to N.P. Rumyantsev, are quoted for the fate of the project. It is shown what role in stopping the work on the project, carried out in 1806—1809, was played by the change of the Department’s leadership (removal of its head N.P. Rumyantsev and appointment of Prince George of Holstein-Oldenburg to the post of Director) and subsequent structural changes — replacement of the Department by the Water Communications Expedition under the Chief Director of Water Communications. The information presented in the article enriches the understanding of N.P. Rumyantsev’s activities in the civil service in the first decade of the 19th century and emphasizes the importance of studying his legacy.

In the conditions of active technological development of society and increasing number of academic open access resources (OARs) there is a need for new knowledge and skills of library specialists who are able to realize modern forms of library and information services for scientists and specialists, including news information on current issues. Such information allows to orientate in the increasing disparate streams of news reflecting the current state of a particular scientific direction. In order to implement news information, continuous improvement of professional competences of library professionals is an important task.

The purpose of this study is to justify the development of mass open online courses (MOOCs), as well as programmes of additional professional education (APE) on the basis of determining the readiness of university graduates in the specialty 51.03.06 “Library and Information Activity” to implement the work on news information of library users (on the example of open science). To achieve the goal, we studied the competences of graduates required by the Federal State Educational Standard of Higher Education — Bachelor’s degree in the direction of training 51.03.06 “Library and Information Activity”. These competences are necessary for the implementation of the information system in the library, they include knowledge of selected issues, the ability to create information products and services with the help of information and communication technologies, as well as the skills of analytical and synthetic processing of information (ASPI).

The research method was a survey “Competences of librarians in the conditions of open science development” among 4th year bachelors studying in Russian universities in the direction of training 51.03.06 “Library and Information Activity”. This survey was conducted in the period from 1 February to 1 April 2024. It was aimed at studying the general ideas of graduates: 1) about open science and open knowledge, the growing interest in which is caused by the emergence of international initiatives and requirements of publishers/grantors; 2) about a variety of OARs; 3) about some legal aspects in the field of open science; 4) about technologies for creating modern library and information products and services; 5) about the methods and tools of ASPI as necessary elements of effective news information in a scientific library. The results of the survey allowed to conclude that the respondents are partially ready to inform library users. The survey also ranked the highlighted gaps in knowledge of some theoretical and practical aspects of ASPI that are required to create modern library and information products.

The survey became the basis for the development of the MOOC School of Future Librarian “Library for Open Science”. The course “Librarian-Bibliographer — Instructor of Open Science”, implemented on the Stepik open platform, and a similarly-named training programme at the State Public Scientific and Technical Library of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences have also been developed. The competences required for realization of news informing of library readers on open science can be extended to any topical issues.

Peer Reviewing

Index of the Materials

Requirements to Information and Articles