In the year of the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory, the authors consider the activity of the V.I. Lenin State Library of the USSR (GBL) on preparation and release of bibliographic publications during the Great Patriotic War. This topic was covered in the specialized literature briefly and fragmentally (with the exception of work in the field of recommendation bibliography). The aim of the article is to fill in the existing gaps in the study of this area of GBL activity during the war.

In the pre-war years, the GBL transformed into one of the leading bibliographic centres of the country — both reference and bibliographing. Both directions were mainly concentrated in the Scientific Bibliographic Department, where at the turn of the 1930s and 1940s preparation of bibliographic publications was structurally distinguished.

With the beginning of the war, the GBL reorganized its work in accordance with the conditions and tasks of wartime. The amount of bibliographic work in the first months of the war was significantly reduced. Publishing activities, including the production of bibliographic publications, ceased and resumed in the second half of 1942. Recommendation indexes and lists on actual subjects were the main type of bibliographic materials created and published by the GBL during the war years.

The article highlights the activities of two leading bibliographic departments of the GBL during this period: the Scientific Bibliographic Department and the Military Department. There are two areas of activity of the Scientific Bibliographic Department: general and scientific-auxiliary bibliography and recommendation bibliography. During the Great Patriotic War, the library produced mainly reference manuals, as well as also prepared several scientific publications. The authors present employees of both departments who have made the most significant contribution to the preparation of bibliographic publications. In addition, the article notes several bibliographic publications created in other structural divisions.

In view of approaching the 300th anniversary of the Russian Academy of Sciences and in connection with the relevance of the topic, the authors have prepared review of the resources devoted to the history of Russian science. The key moments of history, events from the lives of prominent people are reflected on the pages of calendars of significant and memorable dates. The uniqueness of these publications lies in the fact that they bring together diverse facts, while the materials are systematized in accordance with the chronology and upcoming anniversaries. Attracting a large amount of factual information makes calendars an indispensable tool for planning communication and organizational mass activities of various institutions.

The purpose of this work is to identify information products of chronological nature, to study the specifics of providing information in them about Russian science, as well as structural, format and technological features of implementation of selected resources. In the course of monitoring the web space, we found about thirty narrowly theme-based electronic resources. Further, we carefully analysed each resource in accordance with the evaluation criteria on content, structure and implementation technology. We selected about half of the identified resources for more detailed study. Due to the fact that electronic calendars of significant and memorable dates are formed by various organizations — academic and University libraries, archives, research institutes, etc., the authors decided to group resources according to the type of institutions that prepared them, and to describe them in accordance with this principle. The largest number of electronic calendars was found on the websites of research institutions and University libraries. As for the personnel of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the most complete and voluminous resource in its content is formed by the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Analysis of the content of calendars indicates that their content may be limited to the history of particular institution, research centre or regional branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The exception is the resource “Anniversaries of the Members of RAS” by the RAS Archive, which gives the idea of the Academy’s personnel potential throughout its history.

It is obvious that the work on the formation and promotion of resources in the electronic environment that highlight significant events in the history of the Russian Academy of Sciences contributes to the dissemination of knowledge about scientists, scientific achievements and developments of research institutes and is effective means of popularizing science.

The article analyses publication of a large set of historical and archival documents on the history of the Second World War and the Great Patriotic War on the website of the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library. Since 2009 it functions as the national electronic repository of digital copies of the most important documents on the history of Russian statehood and Russian language, as well as multimedia, multifunctional, cultural, scientific, educational and information-analytical centre with the status of the national library of Russia. In the “Collections” section, the libraryʼs website places online publications of various forms and subjects. The author considers the methods of publishing digitized copies of archival documents. Within the frames of the first part of the Internet project “The Second World War in archival documents (set of digitized archival documents, footage and photo materials)” there are published 1767 electronic copies of documents, then promised to continue. There is placed the full list of published documents, it provides the ability to sort them, search by date and place of storage. Virtual multimedia exhibition “The Great Patriotic War, which determined the outcome of the Second World War. For the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941—1945” presents more than 500 official documents, documentary photographs, periodical materials and leaflets. The authors of the exhibition apparently consider the online publication “Combat actions of the air defence forces of the navy in the Great Patriotic War of 1941—1945” as a kind of rare publication, therefore they decided to publish the facsimile reproduction of it. The article concludes on the great significance of the project “The Second World War in archival documents (set of digitized archival documents, footage and photo materials)” that placed a large set of documents from Federal and departmental archives, many of which were first declassified. The author reveals shortcomings of Internet publications of archival documents in the field of placement methods related to inaccurate determination of their readership.

The author uses historiographic analysis, scientologic and bibliological methods to analyse the texts of the leading domestic book scientists of the 1920s, expressed on the art and design of book. The article identifies the range of the most important sources from the point of view of the studied theme. The author traces how the concept of the “art of book” was interpreted by scientists of that period, how it was introduced into science, and what aspects of study of design skills seemed to be the most advanced. Increased interest in the appearance and aesthetic quality of printed publications, which had been observed in the art criticism since the end of the 19th century, moved in the 1920s to the field of academic science. There is a need to concretize the basic concepts of “book art criticism”, specify them in detail in the general system of book science. According to the majority of researchers, the art of book should be understood first of all not as graphic decorations, illustrative additions to the text, but its typographic interpretation, clear coordination of all elements of the book ensemble. This idea was also expressed by the critics of Silver age, but it was the book scientists of the 1920s who especially vigorously promoted it, introduced it into the minds of contemporaries and into scientific circulation, and used it as a methodological basis for their theoretical constructions.

M.I. Shchelkunov’s monograph “History, technology, art of book printing” played an important role in the history of “art book science”. It contains a lot of valuable information; however it is largely spoiled by the author’s vulgar-sociological approach to the chosen topic. More successful were the works of A.A. Sidorov “The art of book”, “Book as an object of study and artistic elements of book”, which raised the question of the need to study the forms of book, the laws of its construction, and the ratio of constructive and decorative elements in the design ensemble. The author also considers the statements about the art of book by M.N. Kufaev, A.M. Lovyagin, N.F. Garelin, M.I. Fabrikant, A.G. Fomin, P.M. Dulsky. Attempts by scientists in the 1920s to create a theory of book art, to approach the study of print works from the standpoint of art studies, were not always successful, but nevertheless, they were of great importance for Russian book science, expanded its borders and significantly influenced its further development.

General academic series “Scientific-biographical literature” exists under the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the basis of the S.I. Vavilov Institute for the History of Science and Technology of RAS. Founded in 1959, it celebrated 60th anniversary in 2019. During this time, the series published about 700 original biographies of scientists, engineers and inventors, both Russian and foreign. In the period of 2015-2019, the series published four monographs representing the biographies of botanist A.N. Petunnikov (1842—1919) by G.I. Lubina, biologist N.N. Novikov (1876—1964) by T.I. Ulyankina, biochemist V.S. Gulevich (1867—1933) by T.V. Bogatova, and physicist Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (1932—2007) by A.A. Sonin. All these publications contain a large number of unique visual materials; this has already become a tradition for books in the series “Scientific-biographical literature”. They also have standard annex for the series, including list of the main dates of life and creative activity, reference lists of scientific works of book characters, and lists of literature about them. During the reviewed period, several manuscripts were approved for publication by the editorial Board of the series and included in the publishing plan of the Publishing house “Nauka”, but due to financial difficulties, they were not published in the series format. However, the prepared manuscripts have already been published in other publishing houses or are at the stage of editorial and publishing preparation. Among them there are biographies of French physicist, Nobel Prize winner Louis de Broglie (1892—1987) by A.F. Smyk; palaeontologist V.P. Amalitskiy (1860—1917) by V.I. Onoprienko; Honorary member of the USSR Academy of Science, palaeontologist M.V. Pavlova (1854—1938) by G.I. Lyubina and Z.A. Bessudnova; astronomer N.M. Subbotina (1877—1961) by O.A. Valkova. Currently, in 2020, no new publications are planned within the framework of the general academic series “Scientific-biographical literature”.

The history of book publishing in Russia during the Civil War is studied extremely insufficiently, especially in the territories that left the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in the summer of 1918. Among the “white spots” there are activities of the Middle Volga Cooperative Publishing House, opened in Samara in July 1918 after the capture of the city by the parts of the Czechoslovak Corps. The article, for the first time on the basis of the analysis of documents of the Central State Archive of the Samara Region (CGASO) and published sources, attempts the reconstruction of the history of this institution, shows the main stages of its formation and development in the context of confrontation of two models of statehood: Bolsheviks and SR-Mensheviks. The author provides materials showing that the Middle Volga Cooperative Publishing House was created from the very beginning as an interregional one, since it was supposed to serve schools in four provinces (Samara, Simbirsk, Ufa and Orenburg) and the Ural Region, controlled by the government of the Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly. In the face of shortage of textbooks, that publishing house, being isolated from Moscow and Petrograd, became a temporary centre for supplying educational institutions in the Volga region and the Cis-Urals with textbooks and writing accessories. Analysing the documents preserved in the CGASO, the author shows the self-sacrificing activity of board member Nikolay Andreevich Kalugin, who, after the return of Soviet power to Samara, was able to defend the publishing and bookselling base of the city’s cooperative associations from the encroachments of the Provincial Department of public education. The article reveals the repertoire of books published by the Middle Volga Cooperative Publishing House in 1918—1919 and estimates the degree of rarity of individual publications, not all of which are revealed in the collections of modern Russian libraries.

The Library and Archives of Canada (LAC) is Federal department of Canada established by the Parliament of Canada in 2004 to integrate services and functions of the National library and the National Archives of Canada; and currently it is the fourth-largest library in the world. The article discusses the experience of the Library and Archives Canada in creating modern centres for preserving documentary heritage, organizing the work of collections management, their conservation and restoration, ensuring openness and accessibility of collections. The main sources were materials published on the LAC website, primarily planning, reporting and financial documentation of the institution, as well as publications in the Canadian periodical press. Special attention is paid to the buildings and premises of the LAC storage facilities. The author describes the concept of the project of the Gatineau Preservation Centre, GPC. The complex, opened in 1997, is one of the top architectural objects constructed in Canada in the 20th century and one of the most secure library storage facilities in the world. The article considers organization of collections storage in the GPC and the work of restoration laboratories located in it. The author shows that GPC provides the most favourable storage conditions for the most valuable and vulnerable LAC collections. The paper gives information about the storage facility in the main LAC building in Ottawa on Wellington Street (built in 1967; modernized in the early 2000s), as well as storage facilities in Gatineau, Renfrew and Winnipeg.

The author characterizes the new version of the LAC Collections Preservation Program (2018) which defines the strategic objectives of the institution in this area, both for the nearest future and for the long term. The paper presents results of a large-scale study of the state of the collections storage in LAC (2016—2018) and outlines the most acute problems identified in this study. There is emphasized the importance of the construction of the new Gatineau-2 complex, launched in 2019 (Project cost is 330 million Canadian dollars). According to experts, Gatineau-2 will become one of the largest, technologically equipped and environmental centres for the conservation and restoration of library collections in the world, as well as the first zero-energy storage facility in North America. In Canada, special attention is paid to the construction of modern centres for the preservation of documentary heritage, which create all the necessary conditions for long-term security of collections, conservation and restoration work. Implementation of such projects is impossible without government support, without understanding by authorities of the leading role of libraries and archives in the preservation and promotion of the national cultural heritage. The experience of LAC may be of interest to Russia, taking into account the tasks set in the document “The main directions of development of activities to preserve library collections in the Russian Federation for 2011—2020” and elaboration of long-term programs in this area.

The article considers the Russian printing in the countries of the Asia-Pacific region (China, Japan, Korea, USA, etc.). The author offers the review of literature published in Russian in these countries, basing on the materials of the Russian North-East Asian collection of Hamilton Library of the University of Hawaii (Honolulu, USA), which is one of the best collections in the world on this subject. The article reports on the history of the Russian collection and its creators. The author discusses the terms “Russian book Diaspora” (publishing emigrant activities within the same country — China, Japan, USA, etc.) and “Russian book community” (publishing activities of people from Russia within the same city, such as Harbin, Shanghai, Tokyo; organizations or groups of individuals, etc.). Special attention is paid to the bibliographic description of this collection, which was first published in 2002 in the publishing house of the Russian State Library “Pashkov Dom” (“Russian print in China, Japan and Korea: Catalogue of the collection of Hamilton Library of the University of Hawaii”) and reprinted in the expanded version in 2016 under the title “Russian print in the Asia-Pacific region” (in 4 parts). The article also reports on other foreign collections that contain emigrant publications, including those printed in the countries of the Asia-Pacific region (the libraries of the University of California in Berkeley, the Hoover Institute for war, revolution and peace, and the Museum of Russian culture in San Francisco). The author presents the data on the work of scientific centre of the University of Hawaii for the study of the USSR / Russia “Soviet Union in Pacific Asia Rim”. The article analyses international cooperation of the University of Hawaii library with Russian libraries, in particular, its relations with the libraries of the Russian Far East. The author describes the project of the University of Hawaii Library to create the electronic library catalogue with complete bibliographic and historical information about each edition of the collection and to expand the exchange of literature and information.

The article is devoted to the theoretical justification of the training course “Library environment and space” and the experience of teaching it at the Department of library and information resources of the East Siberian State Institute of Culture (VSGIK). Interaction of library, environment and space is studied using environmental, contextual and spatial approaches. In order to clarify the system of terminology, the authors analyse publications of well-known specialists in library science considering the features of library environment and space. The authors determine the contexts of library and information activities in the library, being socio-cultural institution: physical, historical, communicative, social, ethical, etc. Contextual approach is considered from the perspective of structure of library and information activities. The article indicates the ways of organizing space and environment under the provisions of the “Model standard of public libraries”, as well as the “Concept of modernization of municipal libraries of the Russian Federation on the basis of model standard of public libraries” and “Guidelines for modernization of municipal libraries based on the model standard of public libraries”.

The authors generalize the experience of the East Siberian State Institute of Culture in studying library space in the framework of scientific conferences held and educational programs implemented. The article characterizes the authorial discipline “Library environment and space” approbated at the VSGIK in 2016. The authors prove feasibility of its introduction into the Master’s curriculum, reveal goals and objectives of the course, its interconnection with other disciplines, give the fragments of the educational program. The article describes the method of applying the innovative methods of mental maps, puzzle technologies, which help through visualization of objects of study to develop associative perception, imagination, teamwork, collaboration and co-creation, which are important for organizing library environment and space in the public library. Special attention is paid to the specific features of the final lesson, the main form of which is the discussion on the topic “Model library: pros and cons”.

The authors consider it justified to introduce the discipline “Library environment and space” into the Master’s educational course of study to form the competence PC-3 “Ability to create and maintain an open, psychologically comfortable library environment”.

The Coronavirus crisis of 2020 has seriously changed the state of the book industry around the world, including the technological aspect of industry interaction. Revision of the publishing policy and optimization of internal resources become inevitable. Digitalization of the book market and growth of sales through Internet channels has speeded up radically. Both publishers and libraries are significantly increasing their presence on the Internet and working to develop a variety of educational online services. Electronic library book has become more popular, and the number of requests to the National electronic library has increased. During this period, the professional community has an updated request to create National digital book platform that can unite book industry entities, among which libraries are the key link. Development of this initiative received a new impetus at the 33rd Moscow International Book Fair, held on September 2—6, 2020 in the Manege Central Exhibition Hall. V.V. Duda, General Director of the Russian State Library, notes that the idea of creating the National Bibliography of Russia should be the basis of the technological development of the project.

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