Online Book Trade in Siberia and the Far East

The article analyzes the activities of regional Internet companies offering books in Siberia and the Far East. The research methodology is based on the combination of comparative-typological analysis and landscape-reconstructing approach. Use is made of monitoring results of bookselling enterprises in the region within the framework of the federal project “Cultural Map of Russia”. It is shown that online sales are a dynamically developing channel of the traditional (printed) retail book market in Russia. Based on the identification and analysis of the main characteristics of enterprises offering books on the Internet (location, subject of the Russian federation, assortment, degree of integration, structure of the enterprise, etc.), the most common groups of enterprises in the regional book market are identified: internet divisions of publishing houses; multi-profile online stores; online book stores without retail divisions; online stores of bookselling enterprises. As the most common type in the regional market, the Internet divisions of wholesale and retail independent and online bookselling enterprises are identified. The features of the presentation of a specialized book on the Internet are revealed. The main areas of specialization of federal, regional and local companies offering book products on the Internet along with other products are identified: educational and office supplies, educational games and toys, business and technical literature, etc. The trends and promising directions of development of the regional online book trade are revealed. Diversification of activities and multichannel are defined as the key trend in the development of the regional book market.

Advancing Library Technologies in Challenging Times. 2021 Library Systems Report

2021 Library Systems Report

Bibliographic References to Publications from Online Resources. Normalization Requirements

The article discusses the rules for compiling bibliographic references to cited or mentioned electronic documents placed in information and telecommunications networks of the following categories: all types of electronic documents placed in information and telecommunications networks, regardless of the primary source of their publication (including republications, integrated and multimedia electronic documents, software and databases), groups of homogeneous and heterogeneous electronic documents, components of an electronic document (the fragment of a text, part of a work or a publication, a block of information in an integrated or multimedia document). The authors specify the bibliographic record for making a reference to electronic documents that have analogies in the system of traditional scholarly communications (books, articles, conference materials, etc.). Alternative requirements for making a bibliographic record when referring to documents that are not included in other bibliographic standards are proposed: research data; an integrated electronic document and its component part (messages and responses to them in social networks, chats and forums, on news feeds and on information resources; a fragment of a document, including a multimedia one; an information resource (website, portal); computer programs.

Reference Services in the Libraries of the Republic of Cameroon: Current State, Problems and Prospects

The reference services in Cameroonian libraries are lagging in the exercise of their activities. Thus, this study raises the problem of the organization and functioning of reference services in the libraries of Cameroon. The purpose of the research is to provide an updated view of research issues in reference services in the libraries of the Republic of Cameroon. It outlines the definition of the notion «reference service»; opens his essence, characteristics, and content; reveals the current state of reference services for Cameroonian libraries and the main factors influencing the activities of reference services in libraries of Cameroon. The research defines the attributes of a reference librarian and proposes and defines several ways and trends for the future improvement of reference services in the libraries of Cameroon. As part of the research conducted, the following methods were used: observation and interviews carried out in Cameroon libraries. The results of this study would, no doubt, be of great benefit to all libraries in Cameroon and should ideally be completed by the Cameroonian reference services.

Electronic Guides on Websites of Russian Libraries: Types, Topics, Structure

The problem of a user orientation in modern information resources is raised. The role of electronic guides as a means of multidimensional information search is noted. The authors of the article translate the previously proposed definition of the concept of “electronic bibliographic guide” and reveal its significant features as a polystructural phenomenon. The authors analyze electronic bibliographic guides presented on the websites of federal and central libraries of the subjects of the Russian Federation. Their multidimensional classification is proposed. It takes into account 19 division bases. The results of the proposed study of these resources are presented. The characteristics of electronic guides on the following features are given: the method of access to reflected objects; access mode; language; the breadth of thematic coverage; belonging to a certain field of knowledge; a storage medium; the presence of a printed analogue. The three-part structure of electronic guides is considered, including an introductory article, the main part and auxiliary pointers and/or a search bar. The results and key findings can be used to improve the creation of electronic guides and improve the quality of electronic information resources created in libraries.

Comparative Analysis of Information Retrieval Behavior of Scientific Bibliographic Databases Users

Statistical study of the information retrieval behavior of information resources users, generated by Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences of RAN (INION RAN), in the search for scientific information over the past decade for two groups of users: guests and registered users, has been carried out. The results of the study are compared with that of the similar studies made in earlier periods to detect changes and trends. Comparative analysis showed a decrease in the search activity of users with the status of a guest, both in terms of the duration of the search session and the use of unique search operations, while the behavior of registered users has not changed. For the analysis, the following indicators were used: search session duration, number of unique operations per session, use of various databases and interfaces types. Such analysis of the information retrieval behavior is relevant for understanding effectiveness of information retrieval resources. The statistical data can be used to design new search interfaces for various categories of users.

Terminological Analysis of the Term “Monograph”

Today the term “monograph” requires careful consideration, since the essence of the term itself is being changed over time and it takes into account the changing conditions in scholarly communication. The purpose of article is by means of the terminological analysis to identify the essential attributes of monograph, reflected in its various definitions. The article considers the terminological analysis of the term “monograph” according to a number of attributes: its material structure, intended purpose, presentation of material, coverage, number of authors, target audience, functions of a monograph for an author and a reader. The author used Russian language and English language dictionaries and research results as the main sources. There considered several approaches to understanding the term “monograph” (natural science interpretation of a monograph as a description of individual types and subjects, a monograph as a treatise on a single theme or problem, and a monograph as a separate publication in the form of a book). Main results are: the determination of the the attributes of a monograph reflecting its essence from the point of view of Russian speaking and English speaking practice, as well as the attributes of a scholarly monograph. The distinction among scholarly, industrial-practical and popular science monographs is typical only for Russian speaking practice, while monograph is primarily a treatise (scientific edition) for English sources. A reputational function of a monograph can become the prevailing function for an author, and sometimes it can be the only one purpose to write it. It is concluded that the main attributes of a scholarly monograph can be considered: the intended purpose - a scholarly one; the coverage - one theme or a problem; the number of authors - one or more authors; the target audience - specialists; the function for an author - the reputational one; the function for a reader - the informative one.

Using Marketing Technologies to Increase User Engagement on Library’s Social Media Pages

A significant portion of the online activities of a modern man is associated with the space of social media, where his need to demonstrate his competence, to be recognized by other users, and to possess information is realized. For libraries, such a space is a vital tool of ensuring interactions with users, allowing them the organization of activities to inform subscribers, create and publish content related both to the promotion of library and information resources and services, and to the formation of the image of the library as a whole. However, there are problems related to user engagement on pages and in library groups. The purpose of this work is to describe marketing technologies that allow the creation of favorable conditions for the development of discussion among users of social networks and increasing their activity on the pages of libraries, which has a favorable effect on the coverage of basic, informational records. Contests, quizzes and promotions are offered as such technologies. An analysis of the ‘VKontakte’ pages of the fourteen largest libraries in Russia showed that these forms are not widespread enough in the online environment: libraries prefer to advertise offline promotions, contests and quizzes, rather than conduct them on the social media platform. The following important criteria for the implementation of these technologies are identified: the use of direct appeals to the audience with the positive emotional coloring; topics that allow one to show his social activity, as well as those close to the interests of the audience. Thus, these criteria should be taken into account when libraries conduct contests, quizzes and promotions in social media.

Notes of Italian Censors of the XVI-XVII Centuries in Manuscripts from the Book Collection of the Ginzburg Barons

The article is devoted to the censors’ notes in the Jewish books that existed in the second half of the XVI - early XVII century on the territory of modern Italy. The material for the study was the family collection of the Ginzburg barons (the Russian State Library), in which about 500 manuscripts of the that period were preserved. The purpose of the article is to introduce into scientific circulation data on the censors of Jewish books on the basis of one of the largest collections of Judaica in the world. The main task of the study was to collect information about the censors from the notes they made in the manuscripts of the collection, and analyze them. There were 27 names of censors, including Domenico of Jerusalem, Giovanni Domenico Caretto, Camillo Yagel, Luigi da Bologna and Renato da Modena, who owned the vast majority of notes with names and information about their lives. The author comes to the conclusion that although the history of censorship of Jewish books has been studied enough, but research on this topic on the basis of rich collections of Judaism in Russia remains a matter of the future.

Web Archiving as a Task of National and Local History Bibliography

The foreign experience of forming the majority of national web archives (in national libraries) and many accessible local history archives of public and university libraries has been analyzed due to the development of a model and methodology for electronic local history archives for Russian libraries.It is shown that the global activity on preserving network content is divided into national and regional segments and is national and local history in both contents. Its goals and structure fully fit into the classical forms and directions of national/local history bibliography, which turns out to be the key in all processes of selection and bibliographic processing of a new class of sources. For selection, all the criteria of connection with the country/region/territory, the place of production of the resource, its national language and content, characteristic of the national/local history bibliography; the selection itself is carried out by library specialists. The analysis has revealed the reasons why the preparation of the archived online content for use, regardless of the capabilities of automated technologies, in practice also requires the involvement of specialist in bibliography, the use of classical tools and methods of bibliographic description and indexing of content. The issue of choosing objects for archiving (sites, subdirectories, individual documents) is specially considered. The special significance, advantages and problems of treating individual documents are shown. The necessity of forming such web archiving strategies is substantiated, in which “starting points” are separate documents, and sites are evaluated and selected for productivity as their “containers”. Taking into account the global trends and the conditions of Russian libraries, a model of web archiving is proposed, the implementation of which, in the absence of a national repository and modern tools, will allow the beginning of accumulating some necessary experience and valuable network content.