The article considers the state of book publishing in Russia and the place of scientific books in this structure. The main research methods are focused on the study of statistical data of the global and Russian scientific book publishing and analysis of the reasons for the change of the paradigm of scientific book publishing in Russia. The data presented in the dynamics shows that the scientific publishing is being gradually reduced both in the number of titles and in circulation, despite the promotion of electronic publishing. Some advantages of the e-book are noted: significant increase in the speed of communication; ensuring the availability and safety of the originals of old, rare and short-run books when translating them into electronic form (digitization, scanning); the ability to show dynamic processes (traditional book is static).There are analysed the main reasons for the reduction of scientific book publishing at the present stage. Among the reasons there are noted: the economic factors associated with the termination of the real government support of scientific publishing; communication factors influenced by the high rate of renewal of the applicative knowledge, while fundamental scientific research, to be reflected in scientific books, cannot outrun the dynamic realities of the applied aspects of modern knowledge; bibliometric factors, the existing system of bibliometric assessments are not conductive to the development of scientific publishing. It is noted that the priority is now given to scientific articles, that is connected both with the efficiency of the publication of the results of scientific research, and the promotion of this type of publication. However, this has a negative impact on the development of fundamental science, education and the preservation of scientific knowledge for future generations. Scientific book publishing needs a paradigm shift.

In 2018, the 100th birth anniversary of A.I. Solzhenitsyn is celebrated. The article reveals the consistent work on the exhibition Project “Writer and Mystery: Alexander Solzhenitsyn”, carried out in the Museum-Reserve “Tsaritsyno” (December 15, 2017 — February 25, 2018), one of the co-organizers of which was the Russian State Library (RSL).

The method of interview gives an opportunity to reveal the subjective vision, concepts and exhibition practices of the Head of Project, Deputy Director General of the RSL Natalya Y. Samoylenko, which she managed to use in its implementation. In fact, the interview is a masterclass in the preparation of such events; it reveals the professional creative approach and features of event management, forming the communications of different levels and contributing to the understanding of the place and role of all partners involved in the project.

Peculiarity of this project is determined by the fact that A.I. Solzhenitsyn is our contemporary. The living and emotional perception of him by people is still prevailing in the mass consciousness; and the image of the classical writer, more refined and supported by scientific research of biographers, bibliographers, literary critics, which will be fixed by time and will become his hallmark, while still evolving. Therefore, each exhibition, where you can see objects and artefacts that reveal certain facets of the character and actions of the writer, is a unique construct and event. This is especially true for understanding the inner world and motivation of the writer's actions, which give the key to the formation of his relations to the world, society, power.

The library, as the Keeper of the book cultural heritage and knowledge, can become an indispensable active participant in this process, not only accompanying the exhibition, but also revealing its collections, the atmosphere of book culture, the attitude towards book, publishing activity and its technologies, appropriate to the time of the exhibited space and communications. The event context of the libraries’ exhibition activities, their involvement in socio-cultural processes, contributing to the expansion of interests and spheres of participation, will stimulate the development of scientific activity of libraries in the framework of postnonclassical research practices.

The current state of the national bibliography in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), worked out in 2000—2017, is analysed. The main types of national bibliographic indexes — current and retrospective — are considered. The author describes the existing system of national bibliographic resources, its methodological, organizational and technological development. It is noted that currently there are determined the bibliographing centers of the Republic — the main participants in the creation of national bibliographic indexes. The author reveals the specific features of the development of the modern national bibliography of Yakutia in the main areas: state (current national) bibliographic control of the legal deposit copy of documents of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia); development of the retrospective national bibliographic repertoires. The emphasis is made on the activities of the National Library of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), which processes all national and regional documents published in the Republic and beyond its borders. The current organizational structure is analysed, considering seventeen-year experience of formation of the system of national bibliography, creation of the National Bibliographing Agency and resumption of issue of State Bibliography Indexes. There are described the materials of the long-term plan for creation of system of retrospective national bibliography of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) for the period up to 2020, which regulates the development and defines the main organizational activities for its formation, as well as contains information about specific projects. There are characterized the key National Retrospective Indexes: “Bibliography of the Bibliography of Yakutia (1838—2000)”, “Yakut Book (1917—1957)”, “Union Catalogue of the Yakut Books (1812—1917)”, “Books in the Languages of the Indigenous Minorities of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia)”, “Book Culture of the Evens”, “Book Culture of the Evenks”. The results of development and the features of the modern system of national bibliographic resources of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) are presented.

Digitization of printed publications by libraries is a source of bibliographic information; it provides users with wide accessibility to electronic bibliographic resources. The notion of “digital copies” is considered. The emphasis is focused on digitization of reference and bibliographic publications from the holdings of the Russian State Library (RSL). The main access points for digital copies of bibliographic publications — of local and remote access — are identified. There are determined the basic positions, confirming the importance of the translation of bibliographic indexes into a digital format. The approaches (methods) used by libraries in the selection of publications for digitization are revealed. The principles and criteria of selection of publications for digitization are studied.

Based on the studied material, the conclusion is made on the need to develop special criteria for selection applicable specifically to bibliographic publications. Recommendations and proposals for the development of selection principles for bibliographic indexes are given. There are given the options and ways of reflection of digital copies of bibliographic indexes in the electronic catalogue and the e-library of the RSL on the basis of study of the library website. There are analysed the possibilities of access to the content of the electronic library and considered the options for finding and providing users with digital copies. As a result, it is concluded on the necessity to form collections by types of documents in the electronic library.

The proposals will contribute to the improvement of the quality of digital content of the electronic library.

The article presents an overview of the published and unpublished correspondence and memoirs of Nikolay Alexandrovich Rubakin, the outstanding Russian bibliologist, library scientist, bibliographer, educator and writer, whose versatile work and activities occupy the prominent place in the history of Russian culture and spiritual life of Russia in the second half of the 19th — the first half of the 20th century. The relevance of the appeal to the personality and creative heritage of N.A. Rubakin is defined by his role in studying the problems of reading and reader. In the context of the development of modern information society, the reading is of great importance in the development of spiritual and creative abilities of individual. There is highlighted the role of N.A. Rubakin in the history of the Russian State Library. The letters and memoirs are considered as documentary and historical sources containing unique biographical information. In the overview there is given their substantial characteristics and special purpose. Publications presented in the Biobibliographic Index “Nikolay Rubakin (1862—1946)”, published in the “Pashkov Dom” Publishing House of the Russian State Library in 2012, as well as the materials revealed after publication of the Index, are combined into a single array. The article gives many excerpts from the letters and memoirs, illustrating various events and facts from the life of N.A. Rubakin, which were not represented in the Indexes. There are determined the groups of his correspondents; and identified different archives holding his correspondence. Memoirs type materials, their connection with publication of the correspondence are characterized. There is revealed their potential for further research and detailed description with the purpose of introducing into the scientific circulation of new information about the life and activities of N.A. Rubakin..

The forgotten now concept of the scientific library by D.D. Ivanov, the theorist and practical expert of librarianship, was not approved by the scientific community in 1970’s, as his views differed significantly from those accepted in library science at that time. Since D.D. Ivanov distinguished two processes in library activities (collecting books and assisting the reader), he represented the scientific library not as a static formation (library-institution), but as a process (librarianship), associated with scientific work. Therefore, he considered the library work in the scientific library to be an “intrascientific” system promoting knowledge and development of science. He also urged to abandon the term “library” in favor of the term “library work”. However, the idea by D.D. Ivanov about the interconnectedness of science and library (he declared it one of the first in the domestic library science) is of doubtless scientific and historical interest for library scientists: on the one hand,  a clear idea of structure of the concept of “scientific library” is not yet developed; on the other hand, his  views are consistent with today’s interpretation of the concepts of library and science as social institutions.

For the first time in the domestic library science there is accomplished the counting of the Officer Libraries in the Artillery Directorate in the second half of the 19th — the beginning of the 20th century; there are identified the sources on the basis of which the counting was done. Quantification of the libraries in artillery, unlike the establishment of their number in the Corps of military engineers, army officer libraries and military schools, has its own characteristic features. They were caused by the organizational and staff structure (which included not only artillery units and military schools, but also arms, gunpowder, cartridge, capsular plants, artillery warehouses, and training bases with officer book collections at them), as well as specifics of service in the artillery (artillery batteries were located in dozens of kilometres from the brigade headquarters, where an officer library was located, and from remaining batteries of the brigade). The main sources in the calculation of the number of libraries were: “Reference book for the Russian officers…” (St. Petersburg., 1869, 1875); the articles about officer brigade and battery artillery libraries in the “Artillery Journal”, “The Military Collection”; the lists of artillery units and institutions which had to have subscription to “Artillery Journal”; the regulations on military educational institutions that were included in the Main Artillery Directorate and subordinate to the General Feldzeugmeister; the orders on military and artillery Directorates; instructions, provisions, rules of military meetings; catalogues of books and annexes to them; instructions for use of books, journals and newspapers from officer artillery libraries; the history of military units, institutions and military schools of the artillery Directorate, etc. The analysis of numerous different sources allows to assume that by the early 20th century the Artillery Directorate could have 150—200 officer libraries. The revealed data provide the opportunity to trace the dynamics of creation and development of library network in Artillery Directorate, to complement and refine the overall picture of the history of military librarianship in the Russian Empire.

By 1917, the Imperial Russian Fleet had established the system of libraries that encompassed the entire staff - from the lower ranks to the command level. During the October Revolution and the ensuing Civil war, most marine libraries ceased to operate; the collections of many of them were looted or had been confiscated by the authorities. However, the new command of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army (RKKA) realized the power of the printed word for the political work among soldiers and sailors, and how important it was to give a uniform, ideologically correct interpretation of the ongoing events. In the Baltic Fleet (which from March 1918 until January 1935 was called the “the Marine Forces of the Baltic Sea”), in order to guide and centralize the political life on ships, coastal units and Navy institutions, in February 1919 at the Revolutionary Military Council (Revvoyensoviet) there was created the Political Department of the Baltic Fleet (Pubalt). One of its main goals was to manage the cultural and educational work; and the libraries were considered an important link. The Russian State Naval Archive deposited documents restore the picture of the work of the libraries of the Baltic Fleet. A separate complex of documents relate to the work of libraries of the Petrograd naval base. These are correspondence, questionnaires, protocols, reports and orders. Of great interest are the results of the survey among librarians conducted by Pubalt in summer and autumn of 1920.Based on these documents, the article considers the formation of library collections, the issues of financing and acquisition. It is concluded that the library work on Red Fleet was of great importance; in the shortest time there was built the new system of libraries, focused primarily on educational and ideological goals.

The paper considers the works of Russian specialists and scientists from other countries devoted to the  organizational and  functional process of training of library personnel. The author proposes to use this experience to form the  system of library education in the  Republic of Cameroon. The organizational and functional structure of library staff training in the Republic of Cameroon should include the following multifunctional and  successively interrelated  levels: specialized secondary library education, higher library education, training of scientific personnel and  additional training programs for  the  professional development and  retraining of specialists. For realization of such a structure dedicated to the  training of specialists, it would  seem appropriate to decide at the  government level on the  establishment of a Library and  Information Science College  in the  country, which would  focus on training of mid-level specialists, primarily for small public libraries. At the University of Yaounde ІІ, it is important to create a Library and Information Science Faculty and start the Master’s Degree training of students in librarianship; and in the longer term, Postgraduate programs for  scientific staff. Organisation of qualification improvement and professional retraining can be carried out  by joint efforts of the  University of Yaounde ІІ and  the  major libraries of Cameroon. Practical introduction of the organizational and functional structure as the basis  for implementation of training system for library staff in the Republic of Cameroon shall be carried out on the basis of classical management functions: planning, organization, motivation, coordination and regulation, control, taking into account the  external and internal factors influencing the  training of library staff.

The article examines the experience of the National Library of China (Beijing) on implementation of the National Digital Library Project. There is described the state policy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on supporting digital library projects and informatization of the library sector, aimed at bridging the digital divide among the population, preservation and promotion of national book heritage, the growth of intellectual potential of the country and increase of its international prestige. The author considers the current state of the National Library of China, the results of its modernization, the projects included in the 13th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the PRC (2016—2020). Special attention is paid to the website of the institution, which presents extensive information on the library life of the country. The role of the National Library of China as the initiator and manager of the National Digital Library Project is shown; the main stages of its implementation are revealed (“Chinese Pilot Digital Library Project”, “China Digital Library Program”, “Digital Library Promotion Project”); the importance of the project in the formation of a single information and library space of the country is determined. The author describes the programs developed by the National Library of China for the implementation of a large-scale “Digital Library PromotionProject”, launched in 2011; the Project provides for the integration of digital resources of more than 3000 public libraries of provincial and municipal levels, ensuring the availability of these resources on the website of the institution from any public library of the country, via the Internet or mobile devices. It is emphasized that studying of the experience of the National Library of China can be relevant for our country and the national libraries involved in the creation of the National Digital Library of Russia.

The article is devoted to the cooperation between the National Library of Russia (NLR) and various institutions of France for more than 200 years. It shows how the NLR, acting as the National library, has been developing relations with French publishing houses, Universities, bookseller companies and has been acquiring literature and carrying out book exchange of documents published in France, particularly scientific ones, to satisfy the information needs of its users.

The article considers the joint activities of the NLR and French partners on preserving rare valuable documents of French origin kept in the NLR collections and providing their accessibility. Among the most fruitful results of this cooperation are: publication of the collection of Voltaire’s marks on pages of the books from his library kept in the NLR, creation of the Center for the Study of Enlightenment in 2003 on the basis of the Voltaire’s Library that has been attracting researchers and scholars studying social ideas of the 18th century in general, and holding the “Voltaire Readings” and “Natives of France and their Russiandescendants” conferences that gather solid international audience of participants from all over the world.

The work of the National Library of Russia on preparation of facsimile editions of French manuscripts, participation in exhibition projects in France has been analyzed. The NLR reader contingent from France is characterized; it is shown that French readers have been actively working with the documents of the NLR rich collections.

The author concludes that the NLR has unique overall experience in complex interaction with French partners, mutually reinforcing nature of separate cooperation directions; it is highlighted the importance of further development of this work, contributing to the successful implementation of the library’s mission functions.

The article is devoted to the study of the range of services provided by the state (universal) libraries of the Russian Federation. The basic terms and their definitions: “service”, “library service” and “library and information service” are analysed. Classifications of the library services developed by the domestic researchers are considered. For the first time, the comprehensive analysis of the websites of the universal libraries of the subjects of the Russian Federation is carried out; the full range of services provided by them is revealed. Upon their comparison, there is created the new classification of library services. In the analysis of websites there is made an attempt to unify the terminology. Classification is based on dividing services by the place of their provision into three groups: extension, distance, and stationary. Each of them is divided into five groups (according to the object provided to the users): document, reference, bibliographic informing services, cultural and educational; other services that cannot be attributed to the first four groups, include mainly the so-called user services.  

The study shows that there is no clear classification of services on the library websites. The range of services of a particular library was indentifed by the price lists, lists of gerrices and information about structural units. Each library website covers a certain aspect of its actual activity depending on the subjective goals of librarians. The analysis of library websites shows that the range of services is diverse, extensive and maximally meets most of the needs of users of the state (universal) libraries of the Russian Federation. In total, there is revealed 349 services offered to library users, including 22 extension services, 81 distance services, and 246 stationary services.

Announcement

The paper presents the review of the problematics and characteristics of the participants of the Interuniversity scientific and practical conference held at the Moscow State Institute of Culture and devoted to the 90th birth anniversary of N.S. Kartashov.

Nikolay S. Kartashov (1928—2011) is an outstanding figure in the library science and practice, a well-known scientist and librarian, major organizer of librarianship in the USSR, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor, Honoured Worker of Culture of the USSR. For the first time he substantiated the principle of systematic approach to the study and organization of librarianship and developed the concepts of regional and comparative library science.

In different years, he was in charge of the Department of library science at the East Siberian State Institute of Culture, he stood at the origins and headed the State Public Scientific and Technical Library of the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, was the Director of the V.I. Lenin State Library of the USSR. He was engaged in pedagogical activity at the Department of Library Science of the Moscow State Institute of Culture.

The significance of the personality of N.S.Kartashov and the value of his scientific ideas in the context of the modern library science were objectified at the Conference. The emphasis was made on characterization of N.S. Kartashov as a scientist, manager and educator, on consideration of the topical issues of development of two main directions of his scientific heritage — regional and comparative library science. 

The problem-discussion reports, keynote presentations and practice-oriented papers presented at the Conference considered the theoretical, theory-methodological and methodological aspects of the declared subject.

Of particular interest was the comprehension in the modern context of the proposed and substantiated by N.S. Kartashov the term “Regional Library Science”, as well as the described application capabilities of the actual use of this relevant concept in sectoral education and library practical activities.

Along with the representative full-time participation at the conference, there was positioned an extensive block of poster presentations, which revealed the contribution of N.S. Kartashov in librarianship and library science, including methodological approaches and theoretical instruments of regional library science, the concept of library management on the basis of functional modelling, modernization of the system of territorial library services, etc.