<TITLE: Russian Libraries - Past and Present
ACADEMIC DOMAIN: social sciences
DISCIPLINE: Russian studies
EVENT TYPE: lecture
FILE ID: ULEC030
NOTES: continued in ULECD040

RECORDING DURATION: 86 min 42 sec

RECORDING DATE: 11.3.2004

NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: unknown

NUMBER OF SPEAKERS: 2

S1: NATIVE-SPEAKER STATUS: Russian; ACADEMIC ROLE: other; GENDER: male; AGE: 51-over

S2: NATIVE-SPEAKER STATUS: Finnish; ACADEMIC ROLE: unknown; GENDER: female; AGE: unknown

SU: unidentified speaker>


<S1> <START MISSING> he's also the director general director of my library the national library of russia and we talked enough i think of such (xx) and er i would like to continue mhm with the presentation of er , my first point , modern library , russian library situation is visible but i , er lot of foreign guests er visit st petersburg and russia , very often and er i see every time , that er they er (have) with great difficulties difficulties understand our reality , because er in the modern er situation er , the main libraries are full of modern techniques of , er computers and er it seems to be very similar to the same libraries in the western countries , and er but er the reality of our libraries er are not visible , and that's why i have decided to compare them with iceberg , er with the situation where you can see only the top of this mountain <USING OVERHEAD PROJECTOR> , ice-mountain and the main , er levels of their activity are absolutely invisible not only for foreigners also for russian citizens er library students and er librarians er young generation and er the influence of the , soviet past , is y- you feel very , mhm , (different voice) , and that's why i've decided er to speak er not today more about the , visible , level of the librarianship in russia and about er invisible sides , but i think i'll begin with er situation er in russian academic or research libraries , er but er before it i'd like i'm not going to introduce you all the landscape of russian libraries if you get interested (xx) you have such library and such library i'm not gonna i should not (bother) to say it we have two national libraries it is er one of the peculiarities of the country er one library situated er historical the first national library at the former , imperial public library situated in st petersburg and now with the title national library of russia and the second one is situated in moscow , it is er the russian state library the former lenin state library in USSR this library was er founded at the end of 19th century but the stocks was , er , were taken to moscow from st petersburg it was er one of the most rich private libraries in st petersburg before and at the soviet time when our capital er has moved to moscow er this library became er main and er , library number one , and er we have er i'm not going to speak er very er detailed but i should like to underline we have er two main levels federal level central level this country was , all the time centralised where er we could we feel it er also today the centralisation is too (xx) but er the most interesting part in moscow er and some libraries situated in st petersburg we have er a lot of central libraries first of all we have er six libraries devoted to the ministry of culture , er but they show us the peculiarities of the soviet time we have , er er central library for for children , other countries have kind of er (similar) er central library er or , it's very difficult to explain why it is possible but , er i'm not going to do it now if you have patience , only er central library for arts central library for foreign literature , er and er er some others , and er the state library technical and scientific er russian library is situated also in moscow , this library is very interesting and er , different branches , medical library , cultural library central library and so on , but as for regional level it is very important er to pay more attention for such libraries because er modern life er life in russia is much more interesting in the regions , the most interesting initiatives came from there to the centre not from the centre to the regions and er those libraries were founded er at the beginning er of 19th century but er they had er received very , mhm good position in soviet time and er our library community er library society i would think were very nice i'm very happy that er in the time after , er beginning of er 90s when a lot of er , branches a lot of very important movements and initiatives er were (utterly) destroyed in different er fields of culture and science and education but as for librarianship we are very glad that this level wasn't destroyed because er the quality of their activity the quality of the personnel of librarians in such libraries and their positions their role in the development of different regions in the country was great in the soviet time and after that also and we have very good infrastructure in the country infra- structure which is already ready for building er information society er we have everything what we need , er only one problem financial support money and understanding from the high level i'm not going to criticise too much my government my er different ministries but i'm scientist , and researcher and i'm not going to lie i want er to , i'm er i'd like i should like to introduce you with the reality that's that and er , i've spoken about russian library association it's very important to understand that we have opportunity to , (xx) together hear different voice from libraries but er one remark more i i'm library historian and er i i'm i read this er , er library history during many years in the soviet time it was impossible to read world library history , our library history was er devoted er divided divided in two different er , sides , library history in the country it was in USSR and library history abroad so , and er , it was er not occasionally because our connections with abroad were , er naturally different as they had for instance in western democratic countries , and er as for regions or provinces of the modern russia er i'm not er going to speak er detailed about all of them but two of them maybe i , i present now , first of all i would like to tell you i should like to tell you about er very important er educational library institution er university of er arts er this university is situated in siberia in the city kemerovo it's very difficult maybe to hear or it's dif- difficult yeah sorry i can write kemerovo this er rather , big city is is er hundred thousands er inhabitants er and they have er er initiated one er very important programme er co- connected with UNESCO er information for everybody it was the first attempt in russia but maybe not only in russia i think , er to organise er education from the first level of the kindergarten to first classes of the school primary school and after that all the steps of all the levels were connected with (xx) with modern technologies and as well with traditional library it is very important for us because in the highest level er libraries are absolutely invisible i will speak later about it , i i mean er information policy in the country and er other er interesting project was initiated er in the city of smolensk it's in the centre of russia , very old and interesting city it was er they have er opened a centre of economical and legal information , and the most interesting such centre is is now in the national library of russia , er and er , before speaking about such topic i should like also to pay attention to importance of er contacts with foreign er societies foreign er institutes , er after beginning of 90s er we had at last opportunity to , open in st petersburg moscow and other big cities er foreign centres for cult- cultural institution with libraries and they've now opened st petersburg (some of them) er , including er library of the finnish institute , including er french institute er german cultural centre goethe institute and so on and as for , goethe institute , er it was wonderful attempt to , organise in moscow in the centre of this country the cultural centre very big and very modern er public library orientated for to russian people russian librarians , it was , example of the best organised public library , and during some years the influence from this library was so great er they had (xx) seminars for librarians from all the country and the director of this library <NAME> now she works in prague in goethe institute she has invited a lot of interesting persons and er , that's why er it was possible to change i'll speak about it later our library for public er which was it was possible to , to give a name or title of this type er mass library or masses , masses library for masses but not for , er each person it's main difference between public library and masses library er masses library library of the soviet time er is connected not with each person with different personalities er and , okay and now i'll start er to speak about the research , libraries visible libraries visible libraries , er , in principle our research modern libraries are similar to the , academic research libraries in nordic country i've been talking about it only one thing was er different from the beginning of the (90s) , the first attempt of er the individualisation was er orientated not to the interests of er libraries <SIC> itselves </SIC> but er to have (informational) interests to sell , library resources our resources as er oil food and dozens of such other things , and er the main wish it was connected with er profit and er the (xx) and the (xx) of programmes er and er , attempting to understand why we are selling something why we are doing such and (xx) but now the situation have absolutely changed we have more projects programmes , and er in this case i may er tell a little more detailed later we are not , er the last in the in europe but er maybe one of the first when i speak about the (national) library of russia but at the same time some er sides are , connected with the past more than with er with the future , and that's why er it's very important for people who are going to , visit russian academic libraries want to be the users during some time er to understand the main difference between western research lib- academic or academic libraries and russian ones , er we have er one , er in the history of our my country we had one year er which er became the border between , er the time which was connected with some democratic initiatives from the beginning of 20th century and border , when all the contacts with democracy were (stopped) , by policy of er government soviet government and only the totalitarian (reality) was er , a real situation , er it is not so i'm not er mhm i have no time to speak er more about each period about each time of this er soviet er history but this history is not er the same during all the time , er after 1917 we have er during some years er very inte- interesting er time when some of the most active and brave initiatives were possible it was possible to realise we have some some of libraries had for instance er wonderful er congress with (world) but after 1930 it was absolutely closed till the second world war , and during the second world war all the not all but some very interesting initiatives were (gained) , they came in into library because er , at that time it was possible er not to pay attention to libraries to culture to education er it was er , question of er the victory for the government and er high level of er erm country and er we had at that time during second world war very interesting publications , and er papers during different conference and this situation was er possible er till 1949 after that we had i won't go to (more) this term and er we had er struggle official struggle er against so-called er <FOREIGN> kosmopolit </FOREIGN> cosmo- cosmopolitans with <NAME> er the most best scientist and er he taught with wonderful education they had no opportunity to continue their researches and so on why i speak about it because er , you live in tampere you visit your wonderful er library , <FOREIGN> humanika </FOREIGN> and you know which scientist which branches of scientist you the books of such branches you may find in this library which you know history philosophy and so on but if you come to national library of russia in st petersburg and if you , you have desire to be a user of this library , er you must make your choice choice to be a user of one of different reading (halls) or some of them and er as for the humanities we have such occasion we have er reading (hall) for militaristic fine literature and arts and er the other reading (hall) for so-called social economic sciences together , economics financial sciences and s- s- a lot of other (xx) all the social sciences and history philosophy and so on the same , er it is not occasional because er this structure was initiated in this year <POINTING AT TRANSPARENCY> 1930 , but it not it's not the past , er now i would like to show this building er the new building for this library and tell about one of the most (present) style er painters of the modern library history for me personally this new building , er about the library library architecture i speak a little bit more because er , the most , dangerous situation in russia is connected with library architecture and the best library architecture is is in finland as from our point of view and from point of view from of many many other foreign colleagues (i refer to group of) (xx) in moscow different colleagues er but now i'm not going to speak about architecture i would like i should like to underline one thing er , our new building in comparison with other er capitals other great cities it's not situated in the centre far away from the main historical er you must er go by underground metro during twenty minutes or little bit more it is not so (far) , and er here but er our stocks our collections were divided separately two parts this building all the books and publications which were here after 1930 are same here , but this here is situated in the er (xx) managers today , this solution is not occasional er and the other historical collections are in the old libra- in the old building and i , speak about it because i want to underline that the past , er have great influence with modern library service to the opportunities or the development of libraries and er . and er some words i would like to tell you about research libraries of soviet (xx) what does it mean , in this year er 1930 er it was the end of the humanities in the soviet russia er technology technique and er some er other science sciences of this kind er were the same as in the world no difference as for natural scientist biology and some others er they were (partly destroyed) , er it's possible to feel it but as for humanities they had all they had the same title history philosophy but contents was absolutely different and if research library academic library as institution for supporting science and humanities er if this sciences and humanities have changed then this institution support (xx) er it was impossible not to change and the same time some sides of your research academic libraries were mhm the same mhm , they had possibility to continue their activity as er research libraries in (xx) countries but one part more or less or many parts er had that has had to change into one direction as was the research library (xx) and er some of er , sides i was talking about some of them and i er i should like to add something (xx) because this topic is for lot of people here it is it it will be possible to speak many hours about it but i'm not going to do it , er first of all i would like er some examples first example this library it is national library what does it mean national library (xx) all the publications from the country and all the publications from abroad all the native language or languages , as for russian situation soviet russian situation after er 1925 er the main library in moscow and the main library , er in USSR have received er has received only the publications er , from the country but er the censorship in that time was so great and all the publications were very (xx) and as for publications <SPEAKING TO HIS ASSISTANT> and now i er should like to ask you to show portrait of nadezhda krupskaya , er very important person not only wife of lenin but er lady , er who has initiated er such er institution as er so-called <FOREIGN> (xx) </FOREIGN> er department of special collections er department which was totally closed for common public only for some , persons or researchers which were connected with secret police and so on and er such er <FOREIGN> (xx) </FOREIGN> er departments they have received all the publication published in russia abroad in the main centres er in the 20s er catalogue and books and other publications in such centres as , berlin p- paris er prague and others , er but er it wasn't the task of the national library of the soviet time , and er er after that and especially after 19- er yes the censorship was very cruel but most cruel after er 1949 i would like to read one citation er it was er interview of a former director of that library the academy of sciences of the USSR <NAME> er after 1949 <READING ALOUD> the censorship became hardened the new and (xx) books were removed from the circulation , and the <FOREIGN> (xx) </FOREIGN> stocks were swollen , the situation had complicated after the (modern) decision of directing (xx) to cleanse proofread not yet removed publications magazines (xx) the libraries have to look for everything published after the revolution and cut off the political papers , to paint over the names of so-called people's enemies with indian ink and references citations and so on (xx) </READING ALOUD> but it was not enough , in the year of er in the year of 1930 er all the catalogues alphabetical and subject catalogues er were also divided in two forms and er the librarians had to organise edition of alphabetic catalogues of users which er had also task of recommendations alphabetical catalogues as well , and only during 1949 19- er 51 three years 75,000 cards were withdrawn from use (xx) , and er , i i'm not going to speak very detailed about er such peculiarities of er soviet research libraries but you must very good understand that er research libraries were orientated also not for er everybody who had decided to receive education and so on they (xx) in the official documents , (xx) actual task of er social- so-called socialist (building) brought masses of working people instead of old bourgeois professors , and what does it mean er mean it means er new (editions) to the so-called historical collections which were preferred er prepared by former generations of librarians , and er , this er . and before this year we had er er division system in my library and this system was wonderfully organised and after that we had a new , structure , orientated to departments of decision cataloguing service keeping and bibliography consulting and er the this structure (was really important) but which i have spoken er little bit er , i , i'm not going to speak additionally er very detailed about other libraries but er a lot of but only one er thing is important er we have er some we hadn't have some research libraries which were before , other (peculiarity) before 1949 we had those libraries had the same difficulties problems and many mhm directors er had to leave their positions because er they have critics from so-called m- methodist methodist is very interesting specialisation or profession in the library community in russia er this term is used today now also er for one side it is er mhm librarian who is er , interested for or have speciality in the field of consulting er professional education and so on but in the soviet time such person had other task first of all to , control to official control modern library organisation service and so on , er political control control from the side of totalitarian society and after this year 19- er 1949 er our official , er (powers) er had no in- interest in such libraries because they were orientated on the main research libraries which were connected with ideology and political task tasks and er from my point of view one of the best er such libraries in st petersburg in maybe in russia maybe in the world who knows is situated in er (my city) er library er academy of the fine arts it is very old libraries library er and in that time the catalogues were not changed er after the , er after the beginning of er 90s er after the foundation of new federal republic of germany er the librarians had not to er unite er two parts of germany in the catalogue german part was the same without any sign of german democratic republic , and er other things it was very good er opportunity to for some libraries to be in the shadow of such er , erm so-called , er . ideological struggle and persons who had no opportunity after this year of the struggle against <FOREIGN>  kosmopolits </FOREIGN> had no possibility to (xx) they had opportunity to be to become librarians , and to work during some many years in research libraries as bibliographers and er that's why i'm going i have to speak about this er , typical russian er (era) , it is not so easy to unders- er er okay but er before it one more er excuse me i have prepared not for (one two) hours and that's why i er , er i have to decide during my presentation er (xx) okay one example er , later i will speak about library architecture and i would like to er to tell you about two things , first thing er i have forgotten to tell you about er er catalogues , that er that time after 30s er one special investigation was prepared was used for russian libraries so-called library bibliographical investigation <FOREIGN> bebeka </FOREIGN> and er all the libraries of russia have used now also we have some of them (xx) catalogues as in my library , but er a lot won't have it or very small communities they have and er the users must use er such catalogues orientated to this marxist leninist system er some , new changes er came during last years but in the reality this er (xx) is (there) er but er and it was er (xx) all USSR except estonia estonian colleagues er er had told regularly to the high persons in moscow that this system was so excellent , and they are very glad to translate er this er those steps into estonian but er it's great honour to translate and i- it needed er a lot of time but in the reality they had done nothing and er estonian librarians they were not er , separated from the outer er world from world information community and as for russian case it was rather different but the most (xx) thing is problem of management i'm not going to speak about directors or other persons who have the same mentality as as the soviet time the same people are the same people and the methods are absolutely the same , er we feel it every day (in our own library) but one example i'd like to introduce maybe to better to understand what i mean er we have some modern er library buildings one of the best i don't have picture but er it's not maybe necessary to show the building er one of the most modern libraries situated in the south of russia in the city of rostov-on-don don is a is a great river , and can you imagine this er modern library is er there are a lot of light er green flowers rich carpets marble and so on , er but the first visit my visit to this library i was surprised why in the south of the country in this city wh- where the citizens have sun shining during all the year (around) that at the end of their summer the faces of er librarians are so , white and so far away from sun shine but after one hour of stay- staying at this library i had decided there was only one desire to go outside and to breathe as more as possible because the ideas of architecture was very good but their realisation was er during realisation there what was forgotten was forgotten conditionals er <SIC> condition </SIC> system was broken absolutely and architect had decided to build library without any windows and to (avoid) every opportunity to receive fresh air , from outside into the room can you imagine such situation it's a problem of , management isn't it and the same situation connected not with library library architecture we have in the all the branches of our own lib- er er of er , library activity , and now about the er bibliographical science er , soviet library time is very strange er because from the outside we have , pressing er of ideology , to the (xx) sides of activity and for the other side resistance was also so great from the side of librarians library er community or society (xx) and one of the er most visible , part of this process is connected with the activity activity of er russian bibliographers russia is maybe is the only country in europe or in the world where we have two different sciences library science and bibliographical science it's not one science and bibliographers and er bibliographical scientists they were all the time the elite of er the science of the country and er and why because in this field of library activity it was possible to be more free from the ideological pressing from such influences and er , library registration was absolutely impossible i'm sorry example absolutely free from such er (influence) and that's why er the best er professional literature what we have is er literature on bibliography but not library science library science it was , our , (xx) at that time , and er it was a kind of pure science and that's why now when we russia are speaking very often about the so-called research libraries (xx) er that means er library for humanities library which is orientated now for supporting humanities in all fields (xx) er and er in the year 19 er 96 one of the best er book er professional books which was were written in from my point of view in the world book from of german professor bernhard fabian book er research on the humanities was translated in russian all (xx) books are going into russia (xx) in the world , er our librarians have read er lot of things about er , possibility to reconstruct er such library in the information society with modern computer technologies er computer technologies but er it was always clear for us that we are , we are not outsider in this process our country our colleagues were mhm have done much more in comparison with german and other colleagues because , thi- that was an one island in the totalitarian society where activity was not great (xx) but fruitful and very deep , and in this case when we speak about er , positive influences of er the past , now some words about the problem (xx) and preservation policy er of policies and about the (xx) (the regions) from er the soviet union . er after 1917 , every library in all the cities all the regions of the country were natio- nationalised er it was er very strange er or it's very difficult to to understand to er to people from the other countries er but er i will speak about it er can you imagine every private or institutional or other library which had over 500 items were nationalised for the state , absolutely and in some regions libraries er which had over 100 items you have libraries at home you can imagine what does it mean and after that er it was er very difficult to understand what the state will do had to do with such collections , and the influence of er such activity so-called activity we feel all the time and today also , er during 90s er we have realised in russia one interesting project it was also initiated by professor fabian from munster from germany er guide of historical german historical collections in europe and er finland also prepared one volume and er as for russia we had prepared two volumes i was er editor of this er volume in two parts , very interesting project it was and er but during the realisation we met with this situation when a lot or many regional and other libraries in moscow and st petersburg have , wonderful rich collections which were never investigated never , there were no attempts to prepare catalogues first of all foreign literatures foreign literature and some collections of er , ministry of er defence are abs- were closed some not but one library i'll speak later , of this ministry this library is absolutely excellent and er but not only this trouble but if i had much more time it would be possible to speak about it more but one example i will give you erm moscow have er er very interesting er , institution it is information centre for social , economical so-called social economical sciences it was library before er 50s after that er this library has changed into an information centre why i'll explain later , and the direction of this library has decided to get rid of old-fashioned historical collections modern society modern technologies and historical collections it is not (possible) to , have in this house modern building and er those collection were removed to the (xx) stocks of the <FOREIGN> (xx) </FOREIGN> centre of the moscow (xx) and all the collections were (hit by mushrooms) , by and er it was not only one library which has most the most important and er it is a part of er not only russian heritage world heritage world heritage and er , in , after 1990 91 er we have started in the russian library association to change the situation er to i'm not i have speaking er as for russia about such projects as our french colleagues er have in one memory for example er not their they know not only what er books er they er , they have in the country in all their libraries of all types of all territories such er task is problem of our future and er it was very pity for me as er organiser of this project in russia er i knew that er for example colleagues in denmark have used er this er methodology those er <SIC> methodics </SIC> for investigation of all the libraries of this country not the libraries which have joined historical collections (only) historical collections but as for russia it was impossible to do it but i hope that it will some day er it will (be really) possible , and that means that er , the most difficult question for us connected with modern access it's er problem er to know what we have what we have er not er , erm we have now and the second question is er preservation policy for such historical collections , er after that it will be enough with research library and now <SPEAKING TO HIS ASSISTANT> i would i ask you only to show er this it is very interesting person er henrietta derman she was born er in lettland i- in latvia (excuse me) sometimes i @@ mix er the terms er erm she was born in latvia and er she worked er and has lived with his husband during many years er in america in united states she has worked in the library of congress and after 1917 he has er they came back to latvia but they were socialist they had a lot of problems er with government and thus they were in prison and after that they had received opportunity to live in moscow and she has has started to work at the library of er , social economic er sciences for the institution er information centre and in er 1930 she became er director of the first er russian er educational centre institution er moscow institutes for librarians institute especially for librarians but in some years er she was , mhm , (watched) by powers and er over 20 years he was a victim of concentration camp , but all the long he was communist , (in reality) but this person is very important for us because er such people er in the soviet time we have er library history about (xx) and now i , try to do all my best to tell about some persons and each person had had very important role in the same time , er to organise connections between other countries to interviews er foreign experience for russian people and er now we are very grateful for such them because er , er we have the opportunity not only to (open the country) solve the problems of (xx) (academic) but erm continue some er </S1>
<S2> please would you repeat her name </S2>
<S1> derman <WRITING ON BLACKBOARD> de- derman , yes and that's why i shortly very very shortly i am er like to before i start to speak about er public libraries very shortly i er i would like to speak about some initiatives connected er with er so-called er , research libraries the meaning of german words as er <FOREIGN> forschungsbibliothek  </FOREIGN> er modern time we have er from one side we are outsiders from other side we are in front of some (policies) and as for the humanities i'm sure that some our initiatives are , have great importance (xx) and er not occasionally this book of professor fabian it was had such words assessing my country i know that in some universities they have only one copy and the students and professors er are waiting during decades to receive for short time this book to read it attentively , er and som- some initiatives only if you have questions i have er may speak er more additionally er for example , in petersburg one of er best libraries (in the state) theatre library it is typical research library with historical collections er which was (in shadow) er in the soviet time but er they have no financial support money for development and in the 90s er they had er received er er support for the start of er soros foundation from open society institute and they have realised wonderful projects of digitalisation with the most er important er collections of their library and as for other library i wanted to speak about one library for the defence minister er central navy library navy library er this er such library has no practically anything about (xx) this library is library for <SIC> militarians </SIC> theoretically but in the reality this library is orientated now er to the researches of the humanities because during 19- er beginning of er 19th centuries here were little books and other printed materials on history geography geography culture er s- cultural sciences and so on er about collections i'm not er not going to speak but er their programmes for er developing this library the colleagues have er underlined very , attentively er that they think about (future) of this library first of all as they re- they are research library , and er , some initiatives were initiated not but er by librarians i already told you that professor fabian was not librarian he is er scientist er , specialist in the field of english language and literature and he has written book about his dream what he was going to see in the reality and the rea- reality came in germany after that , some ideas were realised in great britain and other countries and now in russia and er as for er structure infrastructure of my library which was (xx) er this user system er in the past our scientist had wonderful opportunity to visit such divisions for example greek and rome division antique division and to work together with er , original er books and er translations and secondary lit- literature er but er now it is impossible and the all the stocks that i i've told you are divided and er users must to , walk this building after that in that building and for researchers in the humanities it is necessary to have at the same time the books that they want not separated and er one of er the professors of professors of the the st petersburg university professor <NAME> has er organised in one er , er . school er or <FOREIGN>  spetsgimnasium </FOREIGN> <NAME> and it is (xx) international community and er foreign university of er berlin er one er he has organised one of the most important research centres of the antiquity and with er all the , literature books and other materials in the (book collection) and er he has organised er realised the dream of scientist er which is connected with humanities how he wants to see the rea- reality of future of er research library , it is possi- possible to see in st petersburg now er one of such er initiative is er realising now in my library we are , er building now preparing for opening er for users (xx) like their centre there is french philosophy and science because his private library situated in in russian national library but it it will be not only but also research centre for (xx) with french support as well er and now i i am happy to tell you that er my library and some other libraries er take part in the most important er common european projects for example er one of them and one of the most important projects in national library of russia takes part in it er so-called consortium of european research libraries CERL maybe you have seen , such title it is a project to the creation of database of hand (<SIC> binded </SIC>) books till 1830 and er when our this year er in june we have er annual conference of the european er league so-called league of research libraries with the french library <FOREIGN> (xx) </FOREIGN> er and we have video conferences every year and er this year we are proud to have guests from all the europe in ou- our library and the first preparation of first conference (great) conference which er took place in the last year has demonstrated to our foreign colleagues that we are not also outsider but we (lead) in front of science er some initiatives in the field of organisation of great historical collections er of er european heritage and so on , mhm okay and er now er i will speak about a little bit er , how many minutes i have </S1>
<SU> er if you , er almost half an hour </SU>
<S1> half an hour, okay now i'm going to speak about er public libraries and i'll introduce fast some pictures of (xx) here er but er , about national programmes of er preservation i'll speak er we have some er there's er if you have (xx) how but this invisible level public library and mass or masses library , er before before 1917 we had er people's libraries as in germany france and other european countries i'll speak about (xx) similar (in your) university er and er but today i'm going to speak a little bit about the difference between the li- public library and soviet mass mass or masses library er because er from er point of view many foreign er researchers the initiatives connected with names of lenin or krupskaya were so (brilliant) to organise er libraries er (xx) libraries in all the country and every village every small corner it was reality yes and er erm it was er possibility to to struggle (with) unalphabetical people and er it was very successful and such experience is very important now for some african (xx) countries (and old) but er it is er er that it is gra- great mistake er for , people who make acquaintance with russian library history to to pay attention only to such things because , er main difference begins with orientation of the library public libraries i told you is orientated to the each person and these libraries are orientated for ma- er masses er it means all the libraries were the state libraries not municipal all the libraries state libraries and they were the same all the country no difference south north east west no difference and the institute of so-called methodist had (strictly) controlled the branches of activity i was also when i was young as a student and i was also a user of such library and i know why , er it's not history , that it was possible to receive for example true novels , er er of militaristic er and er it was important to to receive also one or two books of social economic science the librarian knew that i'll never read such books i knew it but it was important for statistics and everybody have done it or without er such er erm , decision it was impossible to be the user of such library and naturally er but er , the best way to speak about such libraries is to show one of the most tragic pages in the history of the 20th century and this er page is connected with finland this er page is connected with the city library in vyborg , and er excuse me but i er i understand the reality <COUGH> and er er i'm not going to speak about er political er decisions and er the influence of (relative) (xx) because i have task to speak about the library er librarianship er but i understand and now that unders- understanding of such er history has er (thanks for god) er changed in russia and our people understand much more better how terrible it was but this er city library was really a er unique library maybe the best er public library in the world in the 30s er the best in the sense of er , function of the library er there were detailed (xx) this library not occasionally that it was a masterpiece of alvar aalto and after erm the second world war it was possible to read er in some books one book was translated from french into russian some er some years ago i have er read myself this library was absolutely destroyed during the second world war , how is possible to understand (xx) exist (xx) have read about it okay but i (xx) this library doesn't feel it wasn't destroyed but i have see- i've read books from er many (xx) danish architects that er this library was (xx) destroyed (in f- fire) books also what does it mean the libraries was destroyed inside , and destroyed by librarians because er it was impossible to use this library building as er building for er public library because public library in the (xx) was er orientated to the open shelves system (xx) libraries and different levels and in er soviet mass library all the books were er somewhere , in the storage not on the open shelf and er there are no area for such purposes and er the librarians had to change all the er organisation or structure of library and the position of the library was situated somewhere here and it was very good solution to (xx) books from (xx) and er to er (rob) them and after that er , er the librarians er have found such terrible (xx) solution they have used er children (xx) for books er after that er (xx) went er upstairs and er the technology for the process were have changed terribly also , and er , this library is er the best example to see the most negative sides of russian er ma- mass library and er , this wasn't a good (xx) , and er i would like to should like to , introduce you some examples no it's very good (xx) and if i (xx) speak about modern er russian architecture er one year ago , half year half year ago in er turku we had er wonderful seminar with finnish colleagues with from turku and helsinki er of er directors of central libraries <NAME> and er <NAME> , took part (xx) from turku has initiated (xx) and the oh thank you and er and er (xx) turku turku communication (xx) and er we have presented to russian er audience or ex- exhibition er connected with er er library architecture (xx) absolutely different projects and new library buildings in turku and helsinki and er i ref- er i must say some examples of our library architecture it is er , typical er with a library building for regional library a regional library is er in principle they are very had very great er collections sometimes over two millions items er the main building is situated in the centre of city this is the city of er jaroslavl very old russian interesting er city situated on volga the river mhm but er every er library had er a lot of er branches for , er depositories for historical collections and for some of them it's impossible to walk in the summer because it's so cold below zero sometimes er , two years ago this city was er the so-called er russian library capital (they had a conference of) russian library association which should (xx) er the next the next slide , er (xx) the next er (building) , the same building (xx) the same spirit but other historical city pskov very old russian city , but the same building had the same problems , er ins- inside russia we had no any real library architectural projects or architect- library architectural school , but before this so-called october revolution we had some of them and if it were possible i would like to should like to show you taganrog er one interesting library i will speak about it more in addition on saturday it was situated in the south of russia native er the town of anton chekhov , i know that his that name is very , well-known in finland also er anton chekhov after his death as you know in 1904 er has er , had he had desire to , he gave er all his life for creating er building er library and one of the construction architects of this time <NAME> er who has er built er the building called moscow arts theatre (where stanislavsky) a very great performer of theatre 20th century i don't know if you have heard about his name he has er built this building wonderful building in the centre of er capital of our country and er this er project was realised in taganrog and he er his architecture was very functional , and we may see the one er picture of er space of er , storage of er this er , library , and now i would should like to introduce one of the (xx) one regional library in the 30s we have some er influences of er functionalism er some libraries have functional (xx) , the projects were typical in other words typical for not for one city but for some , er cities and er taganrog was one of the best er not the worst one it was one of the best libraries and as for the libraries er in town er kemerovo er this library is in siberia i have spoken about kemerovo , in connection with the university of er arts but now i should like to introduce the building of er the provincial library the same building you may see it for example in the city of <NAME> (xx) the same (pattern) no difference and other cities have such libraries er , and we must change the situation , because er during er 90s er s- lot of er mhm not lot of but some initiatives er were realised i've spoken about the (xx) of german cultural centre goethe institute , er it is possible to speak about mhm the (xx) the russian library association and er er in petersburg er we have standards (xx) architects in the university of er architecture not librarians but architectures er and we have wonderful projects for all branch libraries for st petersburg we are going to (xx) for money but i hope that er very soon it will be possible to receive some of them and those projects which are executed by students not for er great architects we have no great architects in this (xx) such field of activity (xx) (it's) already possible to , visit such libraries , and , you ask me er about the , history of library or whether it was er (xx) if those library were dangerous for the , society at that time er german researcher elisabeth simmon is er , thinks er that nazi germany has lost er , chance to be a leading country of the world only because they haven't paid attention to the people's libraries , if people's libraries and there are lots in germany would be , state institutions and er the situation may maybe it would be it was possible it won't be possible to have other results of history and as for russia er from the side of the state the support (xx) not financial with architectural er , er , architecture shows it er very good er that er there was not er great support from this side but they have used such libraries very very er there were and er in different ways , er now er i'm at last i'm going to , say some words about the library information society about the so-called russian case er because er we have er our right now there's lot of contrasts and er contradictions as well , and as for main official documents , programmes concepts and others which were initiated in the centre of the country , er and if you are going to see them you will never find , the term library , or you'll find only term electronic library electronic library as separated from the traditional library not equipped library as in finland er and in other countries and er you may read about so-called <FOREIGN> mediatheks </FOREIGN> but not in french i understand because if you , see the landscape of europe and er may compare different countries er the last point of the this er landscape in this er situation er the first er point will be in france and the last in moscow in paris the first one er in the french society it was (really begin of citi-) cities you know it i'm not going to explain it in detail but it was very good decision er to understand that if the library will be the centre of this process and if the library will changed before such re-organisation they have then er have then (xx) er are entitled to this title <FOREIGN> mediathek </FOREIGN> despite of instead of er public library no and er all the processes were controlled by library community or library society , in russia we had absolutely other situation er , library community library soci- soci- society is er behind this process , you may observe you may make recommendation but er this process is isolated er , why er the situation is er is er to be so er it is possible to answer in such way i think that er it is typical for the soviet time so-called er from my point of view technological <SIC> paradigma </SIC> from (standard) (xx) social life er of the country social policy and other kinds of policy and (xx) possibly that they show that (xx) , and at the beginning of er 50s er it was time of great development in the science and technologies in USSR you know about the effect of sputnik so-called er sputnik and er it was the time after 1956 it was decided er to give a lot of money for new technologies , and as for traditional librarians they were (in shadow) as er , old-fashioned institutions which were used and very important for ideological political processes but not for the future not for the so-called militarisation and in russia we use the term this term doesn't exist in english language i know er informatisation <FOREIGN> (xx) </FOREIGN> in french language (similar) but it's not computerisation it's much more for example all kinds of new technologies , and er such terms are really mhm often er is used in russia now er and now when we are speaking about the information society in russia we have er website page er of the institute of the information society in moscow (university) , er (xx) database we use it use it for (xx) er of the programmes concepts and so on mhm , one concept er it was very , deeply mhm declared that they have investigated all the possible ways including finnish information society but they have er their main choice to the most cheap version of the way er that was (xx) without libraries without education policy , er without information society as cultural society and er the most important things which are the main cause of the , finnish policy in this <DISC CHANGE> of policy , er i may er tell you all the money we have for education er ma- er culture and science is same money as you have but you can't compare your country to my country we have over 200 er 20,000 er million thousands (our citizens) people er inhabitants for the same money , er and er but er the library community is very active in spite of it , and the russian library association er has er , initiated a lot of interesting er processes and er as for this lady i would like to only to say one thing she was the head of the department of department of where i'm working now in st petersburg she has initiated er a lot of interesting projects under the title library and the so-called (xx) scientific information in at the end of the 50s and after that it was impossible not to forget libraries in official documents in the soviet time but after er time of former president boris jeltsin the past have returned again and er we have what we have er but er this lady has demonstrated that it is possible to change in the totalitarian society and now it will be a little bit er better a little bit er easy , much easy (xx) , let's see (xx) after er news results of the er , elections and er , in the 1992 er soros foundation for open society institute has er , initiated er interesting er projects of computerisation or national (xx) of library centre main library centre and the branches and the net of er under the title libnet it is a net of er different er library but first of all two national libraries in st petersburg and moscow and this centre will be the basis of operating (for people) on-line catalogue of current publications for russian libraries and we can also (xx) centre for (xx) resources and (xx) bibliographical (xx) will be presented in open russian socie- er russian library catalogues by their demands the question of the (xx) catalogue the russian catalogue (national) but also international importance , er those er and er open society institute now it is closed , difficult to make progress but it is closed er er some months ago and but this institution have er given money has given money for the most important regional project and with such financial support it was possible to organise er (xx) regional er systems information system some including the republic of karelia and its capital petrozavodsk petroskoi and er one the best such er system there is information system we have in petersburg st petersburg er (regional) univeristy of science they have a very vast network russland net is er what that means and er (xx) became the basic national format for the information change and the basic of cataloguing and the (xx) (or the possible) (xx) (for using) (xx) (information which will) (xx) systems , and this year (xx) er in the kept in the month of may we have in the city called novosibirsk it is the capital of siberia er we have er annual conference of russian library association under the title library is the heart of of information society we have such title in spite we have no information society of russia but i hope we will have some day because (xx) we have infrastructure we have er very good erm , results connected with our past , and in some fields we are not outsider and we hope that one day library community will receive also financial support , first of all from the central level , understanding and er from national levels as well , that er that was well the main er , peculiarities of the modern er russian library situation er if you have questions or comments or protests against something point of views er , please i'll be very grateful </S1>
<DISCUSSION ULECD040>
