The issues of forming a unified Russian electronic knowledge space were considered at the Presidential Library Academic Council meeting

On April 20, 2018, the 15th Presidential Library Academic Council meeting, at which topical issues of the development of legislation on the formation of a unified Russian electronic knowledge space were discussed, was held.

The Director General of the Presidential Library Alexander Vershinin delivered a report. He stressed an extremely urgent task in the conditions of the development of the information society. Particular importance to these issues is attached at the state level: the head of the Presidential Library listed a number of basic documents on this issue, starting with the Fundamentals of State Cultural Policy approved by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of December 24, 2014.

"It should be also noted that the basis of the unified Russian electronic knowledge space should be not only digitized book, archival, museum funds, integrated into the National Electronic Library, but also national electronic archives in various fields of knowledge and spheres of creative activity. The government is recommended, in particular, to supplement the program "Digital Economy of the Russian Federation" with the task of forming a unified Russian electronic knowledge space based on both the National Electronic Library and national electronic archives".

However, the normative acts regarding the creation of such archives, as well as the general concept of "electronic archive", still await their development and adoption. Many of the speakers on the Academic Council spoke of the backlog of legal support for current processes in the field of digitalization in the cultural sector.

"The inclusion of legal information in this space, which is an important part of the spiritual heritage of any nation, is of great importance in the formation of a unified Russian electronic knowledge space", - said Stanislav Vavilov, first deputy director of the Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences. "Our institute can provide substantial assistance in legal and methodological support, including expert work in the process of forming a unified Russian space of knowledge".

Alexander Vershinin for the first time presented a member of the Academic Council of the Presidential Library, the pro-rector of the Moscow State University, the chairman of the Board of Directors of the non-profit higher educational institution "University of Moscow State University-Polytechnic Institute in Shenzhen", PRC, Professor Sergei Shakhrai. He has been cooperating with the Presidential Library for several years. So, Sergei Mikhailovich supervised the work on the creation of the Electronic Museum of the Constitutional History of Russia. One of the authors of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Sergei Shakhrai, calling the Presidential Library the keeper of the constitutional history of Russia, transferred new documents to the virtual museum of the institution.

At the meeting of the Academic Council, the Director for Information Resources of the Presidential Library, Elena Zhabko, presented the translation into Russian of the international standard "METS" - "Standard for Coding and Transmission of Metadata". It was stressed that the formation of a common space of knowledge was based on the application of a number of protocols, standards, one of which is METS.

During the meeting it was also noted that the Presidential Library, with the support of the partner organizations that make up the Academic Council, devotes considerable attention to the development of methodological approaches to selection for the collection of electronic resources, including such new for library acquisition types as electronic exhibitions, scientific educational videos, audio and video documents and others. To this end, methodological recommendations were developed for the preservation and use of audio-visual information on the theory and practice of Russian statehood, the Russian language as the state language.

The Academic Council considered the Plan of events of the Presidential Library related to the formation of the electronic knowledge space and recommended it for implementation within the framework of cooperation agreements concluded with the numerous partners of the Presidential Library among the institutions of science, culture, education, public authorities, local government and public organizations.