System of Scientific and Technical Information in Russia: Legal and Organizational Basis

Abstract

The article considers the stages of development of the national information system based on the State system of scientific and technical information created in the Soviet period. The multi-level structure of the State system included various institutions, among which the significant proportion was formed by State scientific universal libraries of federal and regional level. The role of the V.I. Lenin State Library of the USSR (nowadays the Russian State Library) in creation of the Specialized Center for Culture and Art is revealed. There is demonstrated the significance of information technologies for the State system of scientific and technical information — creation of the automated system of scientific and technical information. Attention is drawn to the fact that in 1991—2001, due to economic difficulties and lack of the government support, the destruction of the system integrity began; there was a threat of irreplaceable loss of the created resources. “Regulations on the State system of scientific and technical information”, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation in 1997, contributed to the preservation of the most of organizational structure of the system of scientific and technical information of Russia.In modern conditions, support for the development of scientific and technical information system in Russia is needed at the legislative and executive levels, and should be based on government and commercial scientific and information structures. It is required to carry out a comprehensive analysis and research study of the current state of system of scientific and technical information, taking into account the indicators of the resource potential, human resources and determination of the further construction and principles of its work for scientific and information support of processes in society.In the study were used the documents of the Archive of the Russian State Library and the official regulatory publications.