scholarly journals INION’s Library as a “Mirror” of the Social Sciences Development in Russia: From the First Socialist Experiments to the Modern Digital Age

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 92-111
Author(s):  
A. V. Kuznetsov ◽  
L. V. Yurchenkova
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
International Exchange ◽  
Bibliographic Databases ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
Russian Scientific ◽  
Digital Era ◽  
The Social ◽  
Academy Of Sciences

The article deals with the modern specifics of digitization of the fundamental library functioning in one of the leading Russian scientific institutes for social sciences – Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INION). It is shown that after the fire in January 2015, the INION’s library never stopped to work. Nowadays, more than 3 million books and journals are available to readers in 18 departments at academic institutions in Moscow. INION receives mandatory copies of Russian publications and new foreign books and journals due to international exchange. Other funds are still preserved in the warehouse due to insufficient funding from the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education, but after moving to a new building on the historical site on Nakhimovsky Prospekt in Moscow, the INION’s library will expand its opportunities for readers. In preparation for this move, several digitization projects are being implemented at once in INION – from the development of famous bibliographic databases, which are still in commercial demand not only in Russia but also abroad, to the digitization of books and the creation of electronic catalogues of the library. The authors draw parallels between the modern objectives and methods of the modernization of the INION’s library in accordance with the challenges of the digital era and specifics of creation of the Library at the Socialist Academy of Social Sciences (which after several reorganizations in 1969 originated the INION) by difficult financial and political conditions of 1920-30-ies. It is concluded that any steps towards digitalization should be focused primarily on the needs of readers (postgraduates, researchers and university teachers) and not based on the proposals of technocrats who have little idea in which direction social and humanitarian sciences are developing. The ultimate goal of the development of the INION’s library should be to increase the competitiveness of scientific products of Russian social scientists in the world.

scholarly journals Open proceedings of scientific events as an object of information and library services

2020 ◽  
pp. 87-104
Author(s):  
A. B. Antopolsky
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Materials Science ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Bibliographic Databases ◽  
Library Services ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Scientific Institutions ◽  
Information Awareness ◽  
Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Selective Information

The task of creating an open access repository for social sciences in the framework of the development of the information system of the Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INION RAS) is formulated. The repository is to acquire and store he programs of workshops, webinars, conference and symposia as well as the presentations and paper abstracts. The findings of the study of open materials science events loaded to the websites of RAS scientific institutions of social and humanitarian profile as potential sources of information for the Repository are cited. For 2019–2020, over 1,2 thousand events held by more than 100 academic institutions were selected. Distribution by the number of events, their categories and status, topics, and type of available materials is given. The data supports the Pareto principle: 20% institutions hold up to 70% events. Thirteen scientific event types are specified, with 5 most popular of them accounting for 90% events with the leading disciplines of history, economics and literary studies. The available materials are unified and their 16 types are specified. Distribution by the number of events, their categories and status, topics, and type of available materials is given. The possibility for using these materials in various information and library services, building e-libraries and union bibliographic databases, and current and advanced selective information awareness services, is discussed.

scholarly journals Unpublished Scientific Documents as Object of Library and Information Services in the Digital Environment

2020 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 355-366
Author(s):  
Alexander B. Antopolsky
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Information Services ◽  
Bibliographic Databases ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Russian Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Scientific Institutions ◽  
Academy Of Sciences

The author considers the problem of including unpublished digital scientific documents published on the websites of scientific institutions of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) in the system of library and information services. The paper describes the study of this class of information objects conducted in May — June 2020 on 200 websites of academic institutions of social and humanitarian profile. The author discovered the unpublished scientific materials of socio-humanitarian profile on the websites of 158 institutions; five institutions had no websites or did not work; and 37 websites didn’t have the materials the author was looking for. The research is based on the data included in the Navigator of information resources on social Sciences (NIRON), developed at the Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INION RAS). The author proposes classification of unpublished documents, which includes both well-known types of scientific documents, such as dissertations and reports on research work, which processing is regulated, and new types, specific for modern scientific communication, such as overviews on activities of institutions and scientific departments. In total, the described class of unpublished scientific documents consists of 10 types, some of them are divided into subtypes. The paper discloses the quantitative data of the conducted accounting, including distribution of documents by the retrospective depth. For scientific reports, the author made the comparison with the data on reports in the Unified state information system for recording the results of research, development and technological works for civil purposes. The article analyses the specific features of presenting different types of unpublished scientific materials on the websites. The author proposes to include these documents in the service system using the information-reference system. When designing such a system, many controversial issues arise, in particular: the problems of metadata, the choice of subject classification, determination of the exact composition of unpublished digital scientific documents, unification of the retrospective depth, the feasibility of their reworking and editing for unification, inclusion of unpublished documents in bibliographic databases and lists, and the possibility of using them in the anti-plagiarism system. These and other problems require further research and solutions.

In whose service? The 1960s’ Czechoslovak Sociologists and their Party

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 781-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Voříšek
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Czechoslovak Academy ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Material Support ◽  
The Social ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Academy Of Sciences ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract This article examines the relationship between sociologists and the Communist Party headquarters in 1960 Czechoslovakia. It is based on the archives of the coordinating body of Czechoslovak sociology, the Scientific Board of Philosophy and Sociology at the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. First, the article depicts the synergy between sociology and the powers: the research commissioned by the supreme Party bodies or the Party sponsorship of sociology’s institutionalization. However, instances of lacking material support to the discipline are noted as well. Second, the conflicts between social scientists and the Party headquarters are discussed: namely, the layoff of the philosopher Ivan Sviták in 1964 and the following interventions into the Institute of Philosophy. Finally, the article maps the demands for autonomy as formulated by the scholars in 1968. In concluding, it points to the fact that despite requesting independence from the Communist headquarters, the Marxist elite in the social sciences never abandoned their own claim to hegemony. They resisted both the challenge of non-Marxist scholars in 1968, and the spontaneous claims and complaints that might come from the society at large. In that respect, the sociology of the 1960s seems a perfect child of the Czechoslovak reformist movement.

ISLAMIC SOCIAL SCIENCES

1988 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona Abul Fadl
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Social Foundations ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Human Value ◽  
The Social ◽  
Western Values ◽  
Culture Brokers

The need for a relevant and instrumental body of knowledge that can secure the taskof historical reconstruction in Muslim societies originally inspired the da’wa for the Islamizationof knowledge. The immediate targets for this da’wa were the social sciences for obvious reasons.Their field directly impinges on the organization of human societies and as such carries intothe area of human value and belief systems. The fact that such a body of knowledge alreadyexisted and that the norms for its disciplined pursuit were assumed in the dominant practiceconfronted Muslim scholars with the context for addressing the issues at stake. How relevantwas current social science to Muslim needs and aspirations? Could it, in its present formand emphasis, provide Muslims with the framework for operationalizing their values in theirhistorical present? How instrumental is it in shaping the social foundations vital for the Muslimfuture? Is instrumentality the only criteria for such evaluations? In seeking to answer thesequestions the seeds are sown for a new orientation in the social sciences. This orientationrepresents the legitimate claims and aspirations of a long silent/silenced world culture.In locating the activities of Muslim social scientists today it is important to distinguishbetween two currents. The first is in its formative stages as it sets out to rediscover the worldfrom the perspective of a recovered sense of identity and in terms of its renewed culturalaffinities. Its preoccupations are those of the Muslim revival. The other current is constitutedof the remnants of an earlier generation of modernizers who still retain a faith in the universalityof Western values. Demoralized by the revival, as much as by their own cultural alientation,they seek to deploy their reserves of scholarship and logistics to recover lost ground. Bymodifying their strategy and revalorizing the legacy they hope that, as culture-brokers, theymight be more effective where others have failed. They seek to pre-empt the cultural revivalby appropriating its symbols and reinterpreting the Islamic legacy to make it more tractableto modernity. They blame Orientalism for its inherent fixations and strive to redress its selfimposedlimitations. Their efforts may frequently intersect with those of the Islamizing current,but should clearly not be confused with them. For all the tireless ingenuity, these effortsare more conspicuous for their industry than for their originality. Between the new breadof renovationists and the old guard of ‘modernizers’, the future of an Islamic Social Scienceclearly lies with the efforts of the former.Within the Islamizing current it is possible to distinguish three principal trends. The firstopts for a radical perspective and takes its stand on epistemological grounds. It questionsthe compatibility of the current social sciences on account of their rootedness in the paradigmof the European Enlightenment and its attendant naturalistic and positivist biases. Consistencedemands a concerted e€fort to generate alternative paradigms for a new social science fromIslamic epistemologies. In contrast, the second trend opts for a more pragmatic approachwhich assumes that it is possible to interact within the existing framework of the disciplinesafter adapting them to Islamic values. The problem with modern sciene is ethical, notepistemological, and by recasting it accordingly, it is possible to benefit from its strengthsand curtail its derogatory consequences. The third trend focuses on the Muslim scholar, rather ...

From Science as a Vocation to Science as a Game: and the Resulting Loss of Meaning

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mats Alvesson ◽  
Yiannis Gabriel ◽  
Roland Paulsen
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Technical Expertise ◽  
Academic Institutions ◽  
Relevant Research ◽  
World Science ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Voice

Against a generalized loss of meaning in society, social scientists find it hard to undertake relevant research that addresses problems facing our world. Science has turned from a vocation aimed at improving the lot of humanity to a careerist game dominated by publishing hits in starred journals. Instrumental rewards replace the passion for discovery and the intrinsic quest for knowledge. Competition among academics and academic institutions, such as journals, universities, and professional bodies, is not intrinsically harmful. Competition in the social sciences, however, is currently resulting in large quantities of formulaic publications, increasing specialization, faddishness, opportunism, and a general ironing out of originality and relevance. Academic authorship and the voice of individual scholars is wiped out as most papers are co-authored by several researchers, each a specialist in his or her area. The result is a devaluation of scholarship and a privileging of technical expertise in narrow disciplinary areas.

The Problem

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mats Alvesson ◽  
Yiannis Gabriel ◽  
Roland Paulsen
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
Prestigious Journal ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
Academic Researchers ◽  
History Of ◽  
Wide Gap

This chapter introduces ‘the problem’ of meaningless research in the social sciences. Over the past twenty years there has been an enormous growth in research publications, but never before in the history of humanity have so many social scientists written so much to so little effect. Academic research in the social sciences is often inward looking, addressed to small tribes of fellow researchers, and its purpose in what is increasingly a game is that of getting published in a prestigious journal. A wide gap has emerged between the esoteric concerns of social science researchers and the pressing issues facing today’s societies. The chapter critiques the inaccessibility of the language used by academic researchers, and the formulaic qualities of most research papers, fostered by the demands of the publishing game. It calls for a radical move from research for the sake of publishing to research that has something meaningful to say.

International Relations an a World of Revolutionary Change

1949 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 272-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Easton Rothwell
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
New York ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
Revolutionary Change ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Carnegie Corporation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wartime Experience

A PROJECT of collaborative research concerning major world trends affecting international relations has been launched this year at the Hoover Institute and Library. This project has been made possible by a three-year grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.1Beneath the original planning for the project lay the conviction born of wartime experience, that a deeper understanding of the dynamics of international relations could be obtained by pooling the contributions of the social sciences and related disciplines and by taking account of practical experience in the international field. The need for new and more penetrating approaches to international relations had been put by Arnold Toynbee in a few challenging words: “There is nothing to prevent our Western Civilization from following historical precedent, if it chooses, by committing social suicide. But we are not doomed to make history repeat itself; it is open to us through our own efforts, to give history, in our case, some new unprecedented turn.” Natural scientists, as well as social scientists are agreed that any “new unprecedented turn” must be sought in deeper understanding of relations among people and among nations.

The Edwards' Report and the International Relations profession

1988 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Nicholson
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Research Council ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Social Science Community ◽  
The Social ◽  
Science Community

The Economic and Social Research Council recently published a Report commissioned from a committee chaired by Professor Edwards, a psychiatrist, so that the Council, and the social science community in general, might know what was good and bad in British social sciences, and where the promising future research opportunities lie over the next decade. Boldly called ‘Horizons and Opportunities in the Social Sciences’, the Report condensed the wisdom of social scientists, both British and foreign, and concludes with a broadly but not uncritically favourable picture of the British scene.

Social Capital: Old Hat or New Insight?

2004 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Healy
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Capital ◽  
Community Practice ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Empirical Measures ◽  
Proxy Variables ◽  
Institutional Settings ◽  
Irish Context ◽  
The Social

Following work by James Coleman and Pierre Bourdieu in the 1980s, social scientists from different disciplinary backgrounds have engaged in a debate about the meaning and application of social capital. Questions arise about the coherence, novelty and analytical purchase of the term: there is a risk of overstretching the concept to include too much. Moreover, empirical measures and proxy variables are only very approximately matched to the underlying concept(s). Some applications of the concept lump together different strands of social behaviour and attitude and treats these as universally equivalent or ‘outside’ specific cultures, institutional settings, historical contexts and power structures. It is suggested that these problems cannot be entirely resolved and have parallel examples in all areas of empirical research in the social sciences. However, suggestions are made for greater trans-disciplinary research, dialogue and connection to policy and community practice in an Irish context. We can sum up our position as follows. Social capital has several adolescent characteristics: it is neither tidy nor mature; it can be abused, analytically and politically; its future is unpredictable; but it offers much promise.

scholarly journals A Field Guide for Teaching Evolution in the Social Sciences

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristine Legare ◽  
John Opfer ◽  
Justin Busch ◽  
Andrew Shtulman
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Developmental Psychology ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Teaching Evolution ◽  
Field Guide ◽  
Theory Of Evolution ◽  
The Social ◽  
Evolution Understanding

The theory of evolution by natural selection has begun to revolutionize our understanding of perception, cognition, language, social behavior, and cultural practices. Despite the centrality of evolutionary theory to the social sciences, many students, teachers, and even scientists struggle to understand how natural selection works. Our goal is to provide a field guide for social scientists on teaching evolution, based on research in cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, and education. We synthesize what is known about the psychological obstacles to understanding evolution, methods for assessing evolution understanding, and pedagogical strategies for improving evolution understanding. We review what is known about teaching evolution about nonhuman species and then explore implications of these findings for the teaching of evolution about humans. By leveraging our knowledge of how to teach evolution in general, we hope to motivate and equip social scientists to begin teaching evolution in the context of their own field.

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