Representation of History of Russian Science on the Pages of Electronic Calendars of Significant and Memorable Dates

Abstract

In view of approaching the 300th anniversary of the Russian Academy of Sciences and in connection with the relevance of the topic, the authors have prepared review of the resources devoted to the history of Russian science. The key moments of history, events from the lives of prominent people are reflected on the pages of calendars of significant and memorable dates. The uniqueness of these publications lies in the fact that they bring together diverse facts, while the materials are systematized in accordance with the chronology and upcoming anniversaries. Attracting a large amount of factual information makes calendars an indispensable tool for planning communication and organizational mass activities of various institutions.The purpose of this work is to identify information products of chronological nature, to study the specifics of providing information in them about Russian science, as well as structural, format and technological features of implementation of selected resources. In the course of monitoring the web space, we found about thirty narrowly theme-based electronic resources. Further, we carefully analysed each resource in accordance with the evaluation criteria on content, structure and implementation technology. We selected about half of the identified resources for more detailed study. Due to the fact that electronic calendars of significant and memorable dates are formed by various organizations — academic and University libraries, archives, research institutes, etc., the authors decided to group resources according to the type of institutions that prepared them, and to describe them in accordance with this principle. The largest number of electronic calendars was found on the websites of research institutions and University libraries. As for the personnel of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the most complete and voluminous resource in its content is formed by the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Analysis of the content of calendars indicates that their content may be limited to the history of particular institution, research centre or regional branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The exception is the resource “Anniversaries of the Members of RAS” by the RAS Archive, which gives the idea of the Academy’s personnel potential throughout its history.It is obvious that the work on the formation and promotion of resources in the electronic environment that highlight significant events in the history of the Russian Academy of Sciences contributes to the dissemination of knowledge about scientists, scientific achievements and developments of research institutes and is effective means of popularizing science.