Noosphere is understood as the sphere of living reason conditioned by the cosmic evolution of humanity. Noosphere man is the creator and inhabitant of the noosphere. The future of Russian libra ries is predetermined by civilization transformations; therefore, the noospheric man becomes an actual subject of library thought, in particular, the subject of this article. Interpreting this object is possible in two aspects: first, as a user (reader) of library of the future; secondly, as a library worker — professional in librarianship. The article considers three scenarios of formation of noosphere: technological singularity, transhumanist immortalism and panorama of the future of Russia. The author opposes two models of the man of future: technocratic and humanistic. The choice is made in favor of humanistic model of the noosphere man, as it can provide techno-humanitarian balance in post-industrial civilization. The article discusses the possibilities of cultivation of noosphere person and the role of libraries in this pedagogical process. The author emphasizes the need of the advanced education in library-information school.

In conclusion, there are presented the alternatives of future development of humanity. In the first half of the 21st century, due to objective and subjective reasons, the humanity faces the choice: technocratic way of development — continuation of spontaneous increase of technological power, ultimately leading to the necrosphere, or humanistic way — cultivation of noosphere man, the creator and inhabitant of steadily developing noosphere. Ascent to the noosphere (the sphere of mind) is possible only under the condition of growing generation of people of noosphere formation. There is no pedagogically grounded model of noosphere person, but it is obvious that the basis for the formation of such model should be the cultural heritage of humankind. Library science, pedagogy and library profession as a whole face the important and responsible task — to ensure the use of diverse library resources for humanistic noospheric transformations of modern society. The national safety of Russia depends on the successful implementation of this task.

The article is devoted to one of the most debatable topics of library science — the problem of social functions of library. Domestic researchers in the area of library science repeatedly addressed the question on the mission of library and considered its role in the society. The author notes that the term “social function” occupies an important place in the conceptual apparatus of library science; however, the generally accepted classification of social functions has not been developed to date. The author traces the history of formation of the ideas about the social functions of library. The article examines the main theoretical approaches and directions of research of social functions related to their classification, definition of functions of different types of libraries, search for the essential (generic) function, etc. The author emphasizes that, in the course of evolution of library science, the ideas of library scientists on the composition and content of social functions of library had been changing, and the choice of particular function as the dominant one depended on the specific historical conditions. The article notes that in the modern library science there is a tendency to expand the vision of social functions of library. The author believes that this trend will continue in the future, and this is a naturally determined process. To the traditional functions of library — information, cultural, educational — added the function of social protection. The most striking model of the modern public library, implementing this function, embodied in the concept of “third place”, according to which the library positions itself as part of the urban space, a comfortable area for self-development, informal communication and social adaptation. For people with special needs (disabled, unemployed, homeless) library often becomes a “lifeline”, giving the opportunity to find their place in society. The expansion of the range of activities of libraries through the development of additional social functions does not detract from the importance of library-information services as a leading area of work. How justified are the attempts of libraries to “fit” into the life of modern society, to attract attention, to become necessary, can be judged only in the course of time.

The article highlights the directions of library activities in multicultural environment. The author presents definition of multicultural environment and notes that public libraries become cultural and educational centres. The article considers the main tasks and directions of work of libraries in the multicultural environment. Among the tasks facing the libraries are the following: creation of conditions for intercultural and interconfessional dialogue, education of tolerant thinking among the younger generation, socio-cultural mediation between migrants and the local community, the promotion of social cohesion of Russian society. The main goal of the activities of libraries in multicultural environment is their involvement in the implementation of the state cultural and national policy. Therefore, the libraries consider their main task in preservation and development of ethnic cultures and languages of all peoples living in our country. The most common areas of work of libraries are organization of ethno-cultural mass events, development of multilingual collections, creation of multilingual electronic resources, cooperation with local authorities and government agencies, educational institutions, national and cultural associations and various public organizations, assistance in the process of adaptation of migrants and refugees to the conditions of new social environment, creation of language educational centres in libraries for all members of the local community, participation in sociological research, methodological support of library activities in multicultural environment. Annual analytical reports of public libraries over the last three years demonstrate the significant increase of their activities in multicultural environment. The article presents the results of survey of the Gasprinsky Republican Crimean Tatar Library on the topic: “Do you know the traditions of your people?” The author concludes that the activities of library in multicultural environment contributes to its development as a cultural and educational centre. Cooperation with local authorities, educational institutions, national cultural associations, public organizations testifies to the importance of libraries and their recognition as active participants in the process of social cohesion of Russian society.

The purpose of this study is to identify and analyse services on the websites of national libraries of Russia. The author presents definition of the concept “library (library and information) service” and highlights the essence of these services. The article analyses how the services are presented on the official websites of national libraries: the Russian State Library (RSL), the National Library of Russia (NLR) and the Presidential Library named after B. Yeltsin (PL). The author uses the following methods: analysis of texts of library sites, comparison, generalization, classification analysis. RSL names the services on the main page of the website and provides the list of fee-based services. NLR also demonstrates services twice, but more complete list presents on the main page of the site. PL does not provide the full list of services on the website, but lists some services in the section “Access to Resources” (also, the site presents “The Price List of fee-based services (works)”. Electronic services of national libraries of Russia are allocated.

The author characterizes classification of services on the website of each national library. Analysis of these services shows that they are not presented comprehensively (most fully in the RSL), and the services are called and classified by libraries in different ways. Users accessing different national libraries are not always able to understand exactly what services are described there.

The article proposes classification of library and information services developed by the author. The classification is based on two attributes: the object that is requested by the user (document, reference, etc.), and the place of service. This classification can be used by both national and other libraries.

Modern libraries have considerable information resources. Digital copies of publications, including bibliographic ones, are an integral part of information resources. The author studies the activity of the Russian libraries of Federal level on creation of digital copies of bibliographic editions, basing on the own library holdings. There are three national libraries — the Russian State Library, the National Library of Russia and the Presidential Library named after B. Yeltsin. The purpose of the study is to analyse the array of digitized bibliographic publications and to identify the place of digital copies of bibliographic publications in the information resources of the national libraries. The author considers the content of the electronic catalogues of these libraries by entering the same type of request. The article presents the results of study of the volume and content of electronic catalogues, obtained by the method of bibliographic keyword search. The author analysed the array of digital copies of bibliographic publications on various parameters — chronological coverage of digitized documents; language features; terms of access to electronic documents. The author notes that the priority is now given to the digitization of publications in the national language. The article presents the types of access to digital copies of bibliographic publications from the user’s point of view. The author considers the statistical data on the availability of digital copies of bibliographic publications in the collections of electronic documents and the presence of special electronic collections. The emphasis is made on the study of open access to digitized documents. The study revealed that the volume of digital copies of bibliographic publications in the national libraries is very small for the implementation of their inherent scientific and educational function; the access to bibliographic information resources is mostly limited. The author concludes that the level of availability does not meet expectations of the user; and Russian libraries should develop their activities to expand open access to bibliographic information resources.

The paper deals with the search and study of the manuscripts from the medieval library of the princes Romodanovsky, preserved in parts in various libraries and archives of Russia. The purpose of this research is to identify and attribute the materials from the collection of the princes Romodanovsky in the holdings of the scientific-research Department of manuscripts of the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences (BAN). Russian historians M.E. Bychkova, A.L. Khoroshkevich and Y.V. Ankhimyuk made the assumptions that separate manuscripts (the genealogical book of M.G. Romodanovsky, the historical digest “The book of cases”, etc.) belonged to the library of princes Romodanovsky. However, until now, these sources in historiography were not considered in the complex, and there was no idea about the existence of the significant volume of books of ancestral library. Within the scope of investigation, the author reviewed and analysed the best part of manuscript collections of count M.G. Golovkin, count A.I. Osterman and other courtiers, seized in 1741—1742 in the result of the charges of treason. Based on the materials from the BAN holdings in the St. Petersburg branch of the Archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the author restored the circumstances of transfer of the manuscript books from the Confiscation Commission to the Russian Academy of Sciences. The article describes that the great part of the manuscript collection of M.G. Golovkin library is made up of the medieval library of princes Romodanovsky, got there as a heritage of Ekaterina Ivanovna, the wife of count M.G. Golovkin and daughter of I.F. Romodanovsky. The study of the collections of other convicts showed that the Commission made serious mistakes in the description of the books. As a result, the significant part of the collection of M. Golovkin was attributed to the books of Osterman. Thus, in the scientific-research Department of manuscripts of the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences the author identified and attributed more than 15 manuscripts of 17th — beginning of 18th century, which constituted the core of the ancestral library of princes Romodanovsky. The obtained results demonstrate the manuscript tradition of the ruling elite and its book culture in the new way. The paper used such methods as historical, comparative-historical, prosopographic, as well as a number of methods of auxiliary historical disciplines: source studies, historical bibliography, archival heuristics, archeography, palaeography and codicology.

The aim of the article is to present an overview of generation, formation and development of the history of domestic librarianship, since the late 1930s until 2018, basing on the study of materials of dissertations. In the course of analysis, the author revealed 1064 theses in the field of library science and related areas, 270 of which are devoted to the history of librarianship. The article shows that dissertations research on the history of librarianship in the initial period from 1930 to 1950 occupied up to the half of all library dissertation theses; about a third of them were created in the period from 1951 to 1970 and a quarter — since 1971 to the present. This indicates that interest to the history of librarianship is stable. The article reflects the peak of historical research that fell on the period from 2001 to 2010. The author suggests that 25% indicator level of historical studies of the total number of research works on library science is a necessary and sufficient level to ensure the development of library science in general.

The article notes multidisciplinary nature of dissertations research: 60% of studies defended in pedagogical sciences, 37% — in historical sciences and slightly more than 3% — in other branches of science. The article reveals the gradual increase in the number of prepared and defended dissertation theses in historical sciences, which contributes to the expansion of research space in the history of library construction. The author carried out periodization of dissertations research. It is shown that the main attention was paid to the research studies on the history of Soviet period in library construction.

December 16, 2018 marked the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Reference Bureau within the Library of the State Rumyantsev Museum. This date is quite rightly considered the birthday of the specialized bibliographic service of the Russian State Library (RSL). Practically from the first years, the specialized bibliographic division of the Library was considered as a complex unit integrating bibliographic service and compiling activity with the considerable elements of scientific-methodical, organizational-coordinating and even scientific-research work in the field of bibliography. Despite the repeated internal restructuring and renaming of division, this approach has continued for many decades. In 1926, the Reference Bureau joined the “super complex” of Scientific-bibliographic Department, which became the basis for more specialized bibliographic divisions, created there beginning with mid-1940s. Over the following years, the bibliographic service of the RSL has undergone numerous structural transformations (mergers and demergers) and has repeatedly changed its name. Analyzing the historical experience, we can distinguish three cross-cutting directions of bibliographic activities of the Library, conventionally designated as reference-, scientific- and recommendatory-bibliographic. To the 100th anniversary the Scientific Research Department of Bibliography of the RSL prepared the Retrospective Index “Bibliographic activities of the Russian State Library (1918—2018)”, reflecting the literature on bibliographic activities of the RSL and its publications on the problems of bibliographic science and practice.

Based on the archival documents of the Russian State Library (RGB), the article studies the questions on the situation with librarianship in Russia before the October Revolution of 1917 and in the early post-revolutionary years. Introduction of the new sources and the new interpretation of the continuity and interaction of specialists after the Revolution determine the scientific novelty of the study. The source base of the research are the materials of the First All-Russian Congress on Librarianship of 1911 and the First Library Session of the People’s Commissariat of Education in 1919. For the first time the article introduces into scientific circulation the bulk of the materials of the First Library Session, not published in full and stored in the Archive of the Russian State Library. Despite the fundamental changes in life associated with social processes after the October Revolution, practical experience accumulated by libraries in pre-revolutionary times within the Russian Empire, as well as its theoretical understanding became largely the basis for the new organization of librarianship. Evaluation of the development of librarianship in Russia and the need for radical changes in librarianship were formulated at the Congress of 1911. Thanks to the active participation of librarians and book experts in the discussion of the structure of the librarianship, many historical shortcomings of the old system have received professional and competent solution. The dialogue of the new government with the old personnel facilitated this process. The Bolshevik leadership duly appreciated professionalism of the library staff and largely used their suggestions made at the First Library Session, which became the basis for the construction of library network in the country and organization of professional development training. The leadership of the People’s Commissariat of Education took over the establishment of ideological control over the activities of libraries, leaving the practical work under the supervision of employees of these institutions. The author concludes that the subsequent success of the development of librarianship in the USSR demonstrated the correctness of the developed plan, built on the opinion of professionals and created by them in the main features.

The article analyses the conceptual idea, stages of formation, organizational and technological features of the Million Book Project. This is the original version of the multilingual full-text electronic library, the first stage of the more extensive program of Universal Digital Library. The aim of the project was to digitize one million books by 2007 and to provide free access to them. The project is interesting, firstly, as an early productive experience in creating a compact electronic library to optimize the educational process, and secondly, as an example of broad effective international cooperation in organization of information resources. The collection was based on “Books for College Libraries”, which is a special collection of educational scientific literature (50,000 titles), electronic copies of which were provided by the non-profit, membership, computer library service OCLC (Online Computer Library Center). The author considers the Project as an original model of international division of labour in the development of library information resources, when the scanning centres in India and China took over most of the work on digitization of books, including from the United States, and the Carnegie Mellon University, in cooperation with other American Universities, provided them with the necessary equipment and staff training. The Million Book Project is based on the original full participation, along with the library of Carnegie Mellon University and libraries of other American universities, of digital collections of India, China and Egypt. One of the strengths of the project is cooperation with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), aimed at combating hunger, as well as with the National Agricultural Library of the United States in digitizing specialized literature on the modernization of agricultural, forestry and fish farming practices. The article also notes the significance of the project in the field of organizational and technological solutions related to the formation of the electronic library: it served as a test base for applied research in the field of improving scanning techniques, optical character recognition and automatic translation. The important advantage of the Million Book Project is the ultimate decentralization of powers in the field of acquisition of the collection, resulted in including into the project orbit of the unique monuments of history and culture of the East. The digitization and inclusion in the electronic library of the cultural treasures for the first time makes them potentially available to the global audience.

A large number of conferences on automation of library processes are held abroad. These events discuss the most topical and important issues facing libraries in the implementation of modern information technologies. The article provides an overview of four major international conferences, which brought together programmers, linguists and librarians, who shared their experiences and planned for future. The authors present the analysis of changes in the subject of conferences for the recent years, conclude on the significant increase in the number of studies on semantic analysis of data stored in libraries and mark the most interesting reports. In recent years, the number of reports on Linked Open Data (LOD) has been increasing. However, most of these reports focus on the publication of data in LOD, with very little research on the extent of use of already published data. The article provides examples of such studies. The authors highlight the constant interest to the topic of Digital Humanities and to the fact that the research within this area is often focused on the problems of modern society. The article notes the new direction in the activity of electronic libraries — storage of the research data, and gives the examples of implementation of these tasks.

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