LIBRARY - CULTURE - SOCIETY
Creation of model municipal libraries of new generation is carried out within the framework of the National project “Culture” developed in pursuance of the Edict of The President of the Russian Federation № 204 of May 7, 2018. The aim of the project is to find new models of library development that combine cultural, educational, scientific and educational functions. Modernization of municipal libraries is carried out on the basis of principles of modernization of public libraries, recommended by the Model Standard for Public Library Services. The authors consider the library as a system object and on the basis of internal and external relations of the object determine the place, role and functions of library in the communication process. The study is based on the concept of library as a four-element system. The article describes each of its elements in the process of their evolution in the modern information environment. Based on the spatial approach, the authors identify the components and levels of the library space, determine directions of its development and substantiate the principles of its construction.
The authors conclude that development of the model of library operation in the territorial information space should reflect the specific features of the formation of its own information space as a documentary-communication institution.
INFORMATIZATION - RESOURCES - TECHNOLOGIES
The decrease in children’s interest in reading is a global and national problem, which causes noticeable social risks in the children personal development and their further social integration. The paper considers popularization of books and formation of reading culture as important tasks of contemporary library-information activities. The authors emphasize that modern library visitors prefer electronic sources of information that actualizes the development and use of electronic information products in the practice of library services for children and youth. The purpose of the article is to determine the possibilities of using multimedia library products in attracting children to reading. The paper presents the results of the analysis of publication activity in 2014—2018 devoted to the attracting children to reading, including the use of multimedia. The authors draw attention to 33 publications, reflecting various aspects of reading promotion in children’s audience, as well as reveal the tendency of decrease in publication activity on this subject. The sociological survey of 150 children of primary school age allowed to determine their basic reading preferences and confirmed the importance of reading in the life of modern children. The paper notes that the results of study of reading interests of younger schoolchildren should be taken into account in the implementation of different forms of library work with users and should be used in the creation of information products aimed at popularization of books. The authors explain the relevance of using interactive multimedia products to attract children to reading: preference to children playing activities, combination of multimedia multiple information types and available interactivity. The paper considers the types of multimedia library products, approbated in the course of activities to attract children to reading, analyses their opportunities in involving children in reading and reveals their advantages and features. The authors characterize different types of interactive activities, give the examples of their use, as well as describe multimedia product abilities in attracting children to reading, their advantages and disadvantages. The paper concludes that the use of interactive multimedia products contributes to attract children to reading and can serve as a supplement to traditional library activities, as well can be used independently.
BOOK - READING - READER
The author considers the publications of the “Formula of Concord” (lat. Formula Concordiae), one of the principal symbolic books of Lutheranism. For the first time the article reveals part of the collections of the Russian State Library (RSL), containing within the displaced cultural values ten editions of the “Formula of Concord” in German, the first of them (Dresden, 1580, Shtekel and Berg Printers) is presented in four copies. The article traces the entire history of the monument, which is equal by dogmatic significance to the “Augsburg Confession” — the earliest exposition of the doctrinal statements of Lutheranism. “Book of Concord” was supposed to stop the strife between Orthodox Gnesiolutherans and Pro-Calvinist Melanchthonists that arose after Luther’s death, when his friend and associate Philip Melanchthon, inclined to Calvinism, became the head of Lutherans. In matters of faith, he showed pliability, which provoked conflicts. Jacob Andreae became the author of the concise version of Concordia. Martin Chemnitz took over the editorship of the article “On Free Will”, and David Khitreus, who was involved in the issues of Communion, joined the work. The first version of the “Formula of Concord” was completed in the summer of 1576 in the city of Torgau, where Elector Augustus of Saxony convened the theological Convention. After receiving comments and minor amendments, the document was solemnly signed in Berg on May 29, 1577.
The author analyses the composition of the book. The original version in 12 articles was written in German, and then translated into Latin by Lucas Osiander. However, the desire to unite all Lutheran churches under the auspices of the new symbol did not succeed — the “Formula of Concord” received Church’s recognition only in the electorates of Saxony and some other areas.
The study of all ten copies of “Concordia” from the RSL leads to the conclusion that this almost complete collection of all published editions of “Formula of Concord” gives a largely comprehensive view of them: demonstrates borrowings, imitations of the first edition (Dresden, 1580), as well as features and innovations of individual publications. Some of them are unique, for example, the personal copy of the Saxon elector Augustus or the illuminated copy belonged to the Dukes of Saxony. The article may be of interest to art historians, book historians, source researchers and museum workers.
HISTORICAL PRACTICES AND RECONSTRUCTIONS
The process of formation of the personnel potential of the libraries of Buryatia in the period of 1920—1930-ies is of considerable interest due to the lack of systematic information on the topic, the insufficiency and fragmentation of the available information. The purpose of the article is consideration of the development of staffing situation in the library institutions of the Republic, analysis of the forms and methods of training of library specialists in the first decades of the formation of the Autonomous Republic. Based on archival documents and materials of periodicals, the article recreates a certain chronology of events related to the solution of staffing issues in the library sector. The author considers the forms of training and retraining of library workers, the content of the methodical work of libraries, the problems associated with the lack of qualified personnel and the measures taken to resolve them. The article presents some quantitative data on the personnel composition of libraries and training activities held in the Republic.
In the studied period, there was a multiple expansion of library personnel. In the mid-1920-ies, 15 people worked in the central libraries — regional and aimak (district) — subordinated to the People’s Commissariat of Education of the Buryat-Mongolian ASSR, in the state public libraries functioning in 1938 — 47 people. The staff of all library institutions of the Republic in 1934 included 155 people, in 1939 — 195 people. In the mid-1920-ies, the overwhelming majority of the personnel of central libraries consisted of novice librarians. Over time, the situation has improved; however, problems with personnel retention did not leave the agenda, for example, in the second half of the 1930-ies in the Republican library.
The regional library, the Department of political and education work of Buryat-Mongolian People’s Commissariat of Education carried on most of the activities in the field of training and professional development of library staff; since 1936 the regional political-educational school in the town of Kyakhta had participated in that work. There were used various types and forms of personnel training; the special role was assigned to the courses of varying duration, workshops and seminars. In the 1920—30-ies, the staffing situation in the libraries of Buryatia remained rather complicated. Its characteristic features were the shortage of qualified personnel, high attrition of library workers and lack of systematic approach to improving the professional level of library staff.
The article analyses characteristic features of the formation of system of secondary specialized library institutions in Ukraine in the 1920s — 1950s, as well as various professional courses and secondary technical schools that trained library specialists. The purpose of this article is to reveal the distinctive features, the main factors and stages of formation and development of secondary specialized library education in the Ukrainian SSR in the 1920s — 1950s, to characterize the varieties, features of creation and development of technical schools, which trained library specialists of mid-level management, especially library technical schools. The author used both general scientific research methods (description, comparison, analogy, deduction, induction, analysis, etc.) and historical (historical-comparative, historical-typological, historical-diachronic, chronological) methods. The author proves that in the second half of the 1930s, the country developed the system of secondary specialized library education, consisting both of training courses, retraining of specialists and also of a number of special educational institutions — various types of technical schools and other institutions where librarians were trained. In particular, there was formed the network of special library technical schools. Based on the analysis of historical, socio-political, cultural and other social factors, the author proposes periodization of formation and development of secondary special educational institutions, which trained library workers. Training of specialists in library technical schools and other secondary institutions became the basis for the formation of human resource of librarians of mid-level qualification for the different types of libraries (mainly for mass). The results and conclusions of this work can serve as a source material for further research on the history of secondary special library education; the material can be used in the special course lectures on the history of library education.
INTERNATIONAL CONTENT
The article reveals the research methodology of the library space of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) based on the theory of self-organization (synergetics). Synergetics as the direction of post-non-classical science was developed at the end of the last — the beginning of the new Millennium in the works of a number of researchers who proved the universality of this methodology and its applicability to the study of processes occurring in society. However, until the 2000s, this methodology did not get worthy application in the library science. The relevance of this study is that the modern library science requires a new worldview-methodological approach to the investigation of processes taking place in the cultural and library sphere, which will help to develop and enrich the successfully used method of system analysis. Based on this, the author sets the task to study the library space of the CIS as a self-organizing system that is in the process of evolution over a long historical period. The article considers the library space as a dynamically developing system of social nature. The author traces its cause-and-effect relations, conditions and factors in historical perspective and modern aspects. The concept of “library space of the CIS countries” arose after the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 and as a result of formation of the CIS to refer to the form of interstate library interaction and cooperation. The article studies the library space of the CIS countries as a system of interaction of libraries formed in the post-Soviet period, the basis of which is their belonging to the Commonwealth of Independent States, within which the interstate relations of libraries are developing, basing on long historical and cultural ties between them; and the Russian language is the language of professional and interpersonal communication. The author presents the descriptive model of interaction system of libraries of the CIS countries with the main features and principles of construction. The article establishes that the CIS library space is characterized by features of a complex, open, dynamic self-organizing system. The methodological nature and theoretical philosophical significance of the article make it interesting for librarians, science theorists and cultural scientists.
EDUCATION - PROFESSION
The article discusses the transition to a new stage of civilization, the knowledge society. In the modern world, knowledge is one of the major socio-economic resources for both the individual and the state. Accordingly, the educational strategy of any higher educational institution should be refocused to ensure smooth transition from the traditional model to innovative in order to prepare the modern student for a life in the society where innovation and intellectual resources play the major role. The modern library can act as a control centre of knowledge, integrate with the world information resources and mediate for the user in global information space using the tools and mechanisms of the electronic library. In this regard, the e-library becomes a knowledge management centre focused on the development and maximum use of intellectual potential of library for the purpose of preservation, reproduction, building up and broadcasting of knowledge. The article analyses the opportunities which are given by electronic library for the University.
The authors constructed the scheme of interrelation of knowledge and information resources. The article considers the concept of proactive electronic library of the University as a system of information service of readers, the main purpose of which is to provide resources in any form and on any carrier using the classical and network forms of services based on the advanced inquiry services. The authors constructed the model of proactive University library, which is a complex system, incorporating elements of various properties and complexity. The proactive electronic library itself searches for information corresponding to the information needs of the user, without waiting for his request; that can influence the development of his information needs. Thus, the library transforms from a passive storage of information into an interaction partner. Information is automatically selected for the user, relevant to his educational and scientific interests, hobbies and preferred leisure.
The constant increase in the number of publications containing the term “humanitarian” in the title, the subject and methodological diversity of these works testify to the formation of the sphere of humanitarian knowledge, including not only traditional Humanities (cultural studies, literary studies, philology, linguistics, etc.), but also philosophical, transdisciplinary, methodological, popular science and even pseudo-scientific texts. All this literature needs to be systematized.
Meanwhile, the literature on various aspects of humanitarian sphere in the system of Library Bibliographic Classification (LBC) is scattered in different sections. In part, it can be found in the sections of philosophy, epistemology and philosophical anthropology, in part it can be placed in cultural studies, in the philosophy of science. In addition, there are texts that are difficult to classify basing on the existing dividing.
The term “humanitarian” did not immediately begin to be used in compilation of LBC Schedules that is largely due to the lack of clear differentiation of social and humanitarian knowledge. Until now, there are different traditional approaches in literature in considering their correlation. In our opinion, the trends towards their increasingly clear differentiation are quite clear. Therefore, the determination of the place for literature in the humanitarian sphere in the LBC Schedules is becoming more and more important. According to the authors’ opinion, it would be logical in front of the row of the Humanities to single out the section “Humanities as a whole”, which would head the LBC sector “Culture. Science. Education”. The authors suggest putting here the literature on General characteristic features of humanitarian knowledge, its role in spiritual culture, philosophical and cultural reflections on the humanitarian sphere. Publications in which researchers are trying to implement a new synthesis of the Humanities would also find their place here. The section may include literature on humanitarian knowledge, its structure, features and functions in society. An important feature of the development of the humanitarian sphere is the development of problems of practical application of humanitarian knowledge. Literature on digital Humanities, humanitarian informatics, humanitarian technologies and humanitarian expertise will also be reflected in this section.
FACTS - EVENTS - COMMUNICATIONS
International scientific and practical conference “Rumyantsev readings — 2019” was held on April 23—24 in the Russian State Library. The conference covered a wide range of issues: “Libraries and museums in the context of history”; “History of the Russian State Library”; “Disclosure of universal and specialized collections of libraries: forms and methods”; “Future of libraries: evaluations, studies, forecasts”; “Libraries as centres of information-bibliographic activities”; “Library collections and library-information services in the age of electronic communications”; “Professional development of library staff: demands of time. Library as educational centre”; “International cooperation of libraries. Library as a platform for intercultural dialogue”. The conference was attended by specialists from libraries, museums, archives, universities and research institutes, representatives of professional associations and organizations from various regions of Russia and from Australia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia, the United States of America, Tajikistan and Ukraine. Among the sections and round tables of “Rumyantsev readings” were both traditional, held within the framework of the conference on annual basis, and timed to the memorable dates and visits of foreign colleagues of the year. In 2019, the following sections were held: “Art editions in the collections of libraries: issues of study, preservation and promotion”, “Library classification systems”, “Rare and valuable books, book monuments and collections”, “Manuscript sources in the collections of libraries”, “Specialized collections in libraries”, “Collectors, researchers, keepers. Libraries in the context of history”, “Continuing education as a competence resource of library staff”, “Theory and practice of librarianship development at the present stage”, “Library digitalization: trends, problems, prospects”, “Effective library management: problems and solutions. (Pre-session meeting of the 32nd Section of the Russian Library Association on library management and marketing)”. Seminar from the series “Role of science in the development of libraries (theoretical and practical aspects)” “N.M. Sikorsky: scientist, organizer of book science and librarianship. To the 100th birth anniversary” took place. There were organized Round tables: “The new National standard for bibliographic description GOST R 7.0.100—2018 in the modern information environment”, “Library terminology in the context of digital space”, “Cooperation of libraries of the CIS countries: strategic directions”, “Flagship projects that shape the future of libraries”. The growing number of participants, the breadth of topics, the steady interest of specialists in traditional sections and the annual organization of new events in the form and content of the “Rumyantsev readings” allow the conference to stay among the largest scientific and practical events of library research in the country. The search for new topics and the introduction of topical issues on the agenda contribute to both activation of historical research and the search for ways of innovative development and intercultural interaction.
ISSN 2587-7372 (Online)
