Presidential Library’s readers have got access to Belarusian law

Residents and guests of St. Petersburg will now be able to study the legislation of Belarus and learn how it works. Center of access to the information and search system “ETALON-ONLINE” developed by the Belarusian National Center for Legal Information is now open in the Presidential Library. Its presentation took place in the electronic reading room of the Presidential Library. With the help of the “ETALON-ONLINE” system, users will be able to learn about relevant texts of legal acts of the Republic of Belarus, as well as documents of judicial practice and analytical materials.

In the course of the ceremony, Director General of the Presidential Library Ilya Bykovnikov noted: “This is another step not only towards joint projects with foreign partners, but also a significant contribution to the development of our digital legal content, which will be available to all readers of the Presidential Library. We will also develop partnerships with the National Center for Legal Information of the Republic of Belarus in other equally important areas”.

In turn, the Director of the National Center for Legal Information of the Republic of Belarus Yevgeny Kovalenko, thanked the leadership and the staff of the Presidential Library for the fruitful collaboration. “This is a very important step for us - opening access to Belarusian legislation on the basis of the Presidential Library. This will allow us not only to get familiar with the existing legal acts, but also to look at many processes in a historical perspective, and, of course, to lay the foundations for our further cooperation in all the various spheres”, - said Yevgeny Kovalenko.

It is important to note that the opening of the access centers to the system “ETALON-ONLINE” took place on the eve of the official conclusion of a cooperation agreement between the Presidential Library and the Belarusian National Center for Legal Information. The document will be signed within the framework of the IX International Scientific and Practical Conference "Law and Information: Issues of Theory and Practice", which will be held within the framework of the Legal Forum. This agreement is aimed at strengthening and developing the traditionally friendly, close ties between Russia and Republic of Belarus.

A significant part of Presidential Library’s digital collections contains materials on the history of law. Anyone is provided access to them directly in the electronic reading room in the building on Senate Square, 3 in St. Petersburg and in any of the remote access centers. Today there are more than 900 of them, they are located in all 85 regions of Russia and 30 countries of the world, including the capital of Belarus Minsk.

The materials from the Presidential Library’s collections are presented on the institution's portal. One of the electronic collections available thanks to the resource is “Belarus: the history of fraternal people”. It includes rare documents, historical and legal publications, spiritual literature, essays, memoirs, ethnographic collections, maps and photographs. They vividly illustrate various aspects of the country's life from the 16th century to the present day.