Internet 2000 – Expanding Library and Publisher Co-operation with Readers

Erzhena V. Gylykova

The issues of introducing new technologies into libraries are being extensively discussed in the modern world of information technology. In view of the need to develop the sciences as well as the general cultural level of the public it is becoming necessary to integrate library and publishing activities, whose tasks very often overlap: both libraries and publishers work to provide people with information they could not get from any other sources.

The activities of institutions which play a leading role in the informatization of modern society should be primarily oriented to serving their clients in a user-friendly way. At the same time one should not disregard the difficulties connected with the remote location of some regional libraries.

Analysis of the work conducted in the leading libraries of the country leads one to the conclusion that all the necessary pre-requisites for the creation of a common system of library services on the basis of present-day information technologies are already in existence. The implementation of various means of information processing throughout the country makes it necessary to include publishing activities into such a system, although hard copies are still preferred by the majority of readers, and in fact prevail as form of publication in Russia.

It is planned to use the Internet as the main link between libraries and publishers and their readers. In the majority of cases the introduction of new services is closely connected with the Net.

It is widely known that central libraries are now involved in the process of creating electronic union catalogues, full-text databases, audio collections, corporate library networks and electronic document delivery services.

The major goals and objectives of the "Internet 2000" project carried out at the State University of Buriatiya are as follows:

1. addition of full-text and hypertext electronic publications to the library collections by publishers
2. further expansion of library holdings by the acquisition of an electronic copy of every publication directly from the author
3. additional replication of the literature most in demand from the full-text databases
4. providing publisher's services of document formatting, editing, replication and design

The main condition for the completion of the tasks sited above is the adherence of all these activities to the copyright law.

One of the certain achievements of the project is the involvement of students and scholars in the use of the Internet.

The project is planned to be implemented step-by-step, starting with reforms on the regional level and following the principle of centralized control. Similarly, the software should be created within the frame-work of the national programme.

The following are the main stages of the program:

1. selection of libraries and publishers who have access to the Internet and evaluation of the possibility to unite them within a common information environment
2. creation of library software
3. extension of the services in regional libraries to that of central libraries
4. merging libraries on the regional level
5. setting up co-operation between libraries at the national level

The Internet will be used as a regular communication channel to hold conferences, gather new proposals and statistics of usage.

Regional structures are very interested in the implementation of this project, as they are working now at a rather low level. The number of their acquisitions has virtually come down to zero. Because of the shortage of documents in the regional libraries people have to travel to the central library to retrieve the necessary information - this is clearly very inconvenient.

In closing I would like to give a brief analysis of the status of libraries and publishers in the republic of Buriatya. The most technically advanced libraries of the region are: the National Library, libraries of the Scientific Center of Buriatya, Library of the Eastern Siberian Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the State Agricultural Library of Buriatya. It is necessary to point out a relatively low technological level of work. Most of the libraries have electronic catalogues, which speeds up searching in the catalogue. The Scientific Library is setting up the ordering system over the Internet, but this is used only for acquisition purposes. Later on it is planned to extend this service to the library users.

In 1998 the libraries of Ulan-Ude worked out a plan for the creation of a corporate database which was to be published on a special web-site. Since the republican budget could not fund the program we applied to the Soros Foundation for a grant, but unfortunately this project was not supported. At the time we cannot afford funding this program, which is why it has been suspended. The founders of the project are now seeking financial support for it.

We are planning to use e-mail for the purposes of ILL, i.e. for the receipt of orders and to provide clients with electronic copies of articles of up to 10 pages.

The major difficulties in the implementation of new technologies lie in underfunding, lack of computer skills amongst library staff, lack of incentives to introduce up-to-date technologies in library services. At the same time the experience of some Russian colleagues suggests the necessity of extensive usage of advanced technologies in the library.

A related and important issue concerning the development of science, education and culture is the whole area of publishing. Today, the publishers of the Scientific Centre of Buriatya, the Eastern Siberian Academy of Arts and Sciences and the State Agricultural Library of Buriatya are connected to the Internet. The State University of Buriatya I am representing here has a publishing department and libraries which have no access to the Internet. In 1996 the University created its own Internet centre which provides information support for various university departments.

Considering the fact that the publishers have just recently received access to the Internet, they are now in the "familiarisation" stage. For instance, staff study sites of other publishers and ways to improve the quality of printed materials, get familiar with the new publishing software and technologies. A program of co-operation with Russian and foreign publishers is in the process of being worked out. For example, the director of the Scientific Centre of Buriatya Publishing House in co-operation with of the Union of Artists of Russia has started a design project together with an American team. The participants contact each other via the Internet.

Thus the Internet allows publishers to support and develop co-operation with each other, get familiar with price-lists and place orders for their printing plants.

Most of the editing and publishing departments maintain a collection of electronic copies of published materials. The Scientific Centre of Buriatya Publishing House has been maintaining such a collection since 1996. In the near future it will have its web-site on the Internet. The publishing house is planning to present some of its publications online by posting Russian and English annotations, some images and covers on the web. Later on, in strict accordance with Russian copyright law, clients, with the authors' consent, will have a chance to get some abstracts from the electronic version of publications; the publishing house will then process the delivery of orders.

It is worth pointing out that the Internet extends the possibilities of the presentation of information, created by various institutions (universities, academies), whose main task it is to disseminate scientific knowledge. It is gratifying that academics strive to spread scientific information over the Internet, which could easily compete with what is there already.

In the light of the above I would like to formulate a couple of proposals:

1. Considering the underfunding of libraries on the one hand and the high demand for electronic information from the public on the other, it would be highly advisable for library staff not to wait until they get new EDD software, but to start providing this kind of service on the basis of the existing resources, which might be a scanner and Internet access.
2. Concerning user demands and present-day technical capabilities it seems important to review copyright issues from the perspective of library services. Providing our clients with full-text electronic materials seems extremely important to me and it does not violate the copyright legislation. Copyright law is supposed to prevent illegal usage of such materials, but should not limit access when it comes to scientific research or education.
3. Taking into consideration the increase in the amount of electronic information together with the maintenance of traditionally free library services, it is necessary to move towards free or more affordable electronic document services for individual library clients. The cost of retrieving an electronic document should not exceed that of a document in any other form (hardcopy, microfilm).