Ser 03 - Moscow State University of Cultu

Series 03		Moscow State University of Culture and Arts [MSUCA] [November 12, 2007]
Contact: Ms. Ndezhda V. Krotova, Rector
	7 Bibkliotechnaya St., Moscow Oblast, Khimki, 141400, Russia Tel.: (095) 570-04 77, 570-24 11 Fax: (095)570-04-44 e-mail:postmaster@msuc.edu.ru, misit@telecom.sins.ru Internet: http://msuc.edu.ru
	http://russia-ic.com/education_science/education/other_opportunities/8/
Interpreter: Irena
Moscow State University of Culture and Arts was established by an Act of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) National Comissars Council (NCC) on July 10, 1930. It was first called the Moscow Library Institute and was located at Manezhnaya Square (Mokhovaya Street) in a large mansion or home. The first Director of the Library Institute was Genrietta Karlovna Abele-Derman, a graduate of Simmons College in the United States. The Library Institute was later called the Lenin Library. The Institute soon outgrew the original location and was moved to the Khimiki region on the left bank of the Moscow Canal. In 1992 the university gained autonomous [self-administered] status by decree of the Russian Federation. Today the University of Culture and Arts serves over 11,000 students from all over Russia and also many foreign countries, particularly Korea, Japan, Hungary, Canada, and others. The rapid growth of the university may be seen in the enrollment of 7,750 students in 1998 to the present 11,000. [Web-site indicates that the total enrollment of Moscow State University is 40,000, with another 10,000 high school students who participate in clubs and classes in the university.]
Today the university is comprised of five institutes, headed by twenty-seven department chairs. Additionally there are eight branches of the university located outside Moscow. Examples of the some 37 specialties and directions that may be studied at the university are Information-library activity management Information technologies and electronic libraries Photography Advertising Solo Folk Singing Journalism Social and Cultural Activity Management
The professional staff of the university is a mixture of older, established professors and young professional staff. There are over 145 Doctors of Sciences, Professors, 417 Candidates of Sciences, and Assistant Professors.
Following a welcoming ceremony by the students and the Rector that included the traditional welcome of bread and salt, the delegation were given a tour of the facility.
Report:
MEETING AT MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY OF CULTURE AND ARTS, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2007 The Russian librarians were introduced by Nikolei N. Eroshenko, Vice-Rector of Sciences of Moscow State University of Culture and Arts. The delegation was introduced by Camila Alire. The first presentation was given by Galina A. Ivanova, Director of Library-Information Institute, who described her visit to the United States where she was impressed by the library services offered to children and young adults. Librarians are taught at over 30 institutions in Russia. The first two years are devoted to general training in the humanities. The third year they begin to specialize in one of four areas; 1) librarians, bibliographers and educators, 2) management of information resources, 3) analysts of information systems, and 4) technologists and systems engineers. There are 300,000 trained librarians of all kinds in Russia. Standards for the education of librarians have been established based on past experience and technology of the present day. The standards incorporate professional and technical areas, as well as psychological qualifications, and “general erudition.” New standards will adopt aspects of standards from western countries and be fully introduced in 2009. One change will be the introduction of a four year bachelor degree of 240 hours, followed by a master’s degree of 120 hours. Chandrika Shantaram presented, “Establishing library services in an e-learning environment.” Questions from local librarians covered such topics as, what percentage of resources is made available to students? What classes and degrees are offered? Are there fees for these services? Are there restrictions by subject for library resources? Bede Mitchell introduced the discussion topic of information technology. It was remarked that libraries in both countries have become dependent on information technologies, and have difficulty maintaining an infrastructure. In the US, university IT departments are often unable to help libraries maintain their services. Russian libraries are struggling with a different reality. Some progress has been made in university libraries, which are some of the richest and most advanced libraries in Russia. Some are starting elibrary projects. The majority of university libraries have online catalogs and information systems, but most do not yet have online circulation systems or security systems. They also do not allow open access to most of their collections. It was suggested that Russian libraries are behind US libraries in practical applications, but are perhaps ahead in the theory of librarianship. All librarians present appeared to agree with the observation that students incorrectly assume all information is freely available on the internet. The Russian librarians were asked how their institutions handled this perception. One remarked that students who cited Google received no credit for their work. The topic of sharing bibliographic records was discussed. Russian libraries use their own national bibliographic standard, which is different than OCLC MARC, although they have been in discussions with OCLC about possibly reconciling their two systems to allow Russian libraries to contribute records to OCLC. They are working on a national bibliographic system which will link all Russian library catalogs, called LIBnet. In response to a question about Presidential libraries, we were told that President Putin has recently announced plans for the creation of a presidential library, which will be electronic, and will be dedicated to presidential and governmental issues. A national computer infrastructure will be put into place. In conclusion, Mrs. Vera G. Pachkova, Vice-Dean of Library Sciences, Bibliography, and Information, (?) said she looked forward to future contacts between our libraries, and mentioned that they were co-hosting a symposium in Viet Nam on culture and globalization in higher learning, and promised to issue invitations to all delegates.

Notes:
The State University of Culture and arts is one of only a few universities that is specifically a training institute for librarians.
Founded in 1930, the university is comprised of 17 departments.
First director of the Moscow State University Library of Culture and the Arts was Genrietta Abele-Derman, a graduate of Simmons College, USA. She later went to Harvard and from there to Library of Congress. On the 28th of November there was a celebration and conference dedicated to her memory. Throughout her life-time she kept good relationships with her American colleagues.
In 1930 she was the first Director of the Library Institute which was later known as the Lenin Library. She participated in the Bolshevik Revolution. During the Stalinist regime she was sent to prison camp for Bolsheviks and was released in 1954. She lived only a few months after that date, as her health was broken. As director she had to develop everything from scratch. After Genrietta's direction, there were a series of directors. During WWII the times were hard but the library persisted. Lenin's wife, Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya (1869-1939) visited the library and took an interest in its affairs.
In 1949 a Department of the Arts was added. Many of the documents in the exhibit are the original documents. Some elements from the life of students are displayed. Exhibit shows some 20-25 students per room. The building we visited was the original building where the school started in 1936. In 1964 the school was renamed "Moscow". In 1994 it was called "University" and in 1999 [?] it was renamed the Moscow State University of Culture and the Arts."
There are 11,000 students, 8 schools, and one academic center (Moscow) with branches around Russia. The school has receive the Red Banner of Labor Award.
The Library is comprised of the Collections ; Accepting and Sorting Department ; Reading Room ; It Section.
QUESTION: "How do you work with students?" All first year students get an orientation.
QUESTION: "Is there a shared catalog?" Yes, central catalog access
QUESTION: Is there a standard classification system?" "Digital classification?" Yes
QUESTION: "Do you have electronic databases for students?" Yes, we also have digital version of all materials for library science students. We are making a digital version of Social Sciences, etc. [?] In-house system. We are in the process of digitizing the Dissertation and Theses of students.
There is a branch of the Lenin Library near-by. The products of research are stored in the various Departments. Abstracts of Dissertations and Theses are here, but digital versions are stored in the near-by Lenin Library
Greetings from the Provost were given. He noted that "...this is a living school of fine arts."
University is 22 hectares in size. There are student apartments (16 stories high) with 1- or 3 students in each room. There are many auxiliary buildings. A new building will be started next year that will house theatre and concert presentations. Plans are underway to begin a new library that will be in the shape of an open book. They have had many important people come to the university recently. In May 2007 they held an international conference for librarianship. This helped to leverage the library in the eyes of the state. Would like to start a friendship with American libraries. One of our graduates went on to work at the Library of Congress. Our contacts started with Henrietta -- she was the first person to build a bridge between USA and Russia. Many international students from 35 different countries of the world study here. We have 8 branches and plan to establish branches abroad -- are interested in doing so. University is engaged in considerable research. "I want this visit to be the beginning of a joint project with American universities. We do a lot of work of digitizing. Maybe we could have a joint project in digitization."
We give training in librarianship to high school students and others and train in Library Science. This is something!
A round-table discussion then followed.
Most around the table have a higher degree. There are three levels of degree. The Dr. of Pedagogical Service is equal to Dean. This is a Federal library. We are responsible for developing National standards. Our university has a council for library standards that works across the Federation . We develop and approve standards here at this institution. We don't just train librarians but also prepare librarian administrators. This is a proving ground for students to learn the skills of librarianship.
Floor was then given to Director of Libraries, Margueritta Klepiskova [?]. She had visited US and wrote up her experience in "Library work with children and young adults in other countries (US in particular). She chairs childrens's literature. A part of her book was part of Congress of School Librarians. Article in Higher Education in Spl...? Libraries [?] This Institute [?] appeared 77 years ago. That is when we started to train librarians. Today the library system in the country supports some 300,000 libraries of all kinds. The Moscow State University of Culture and Arts is not the only training school for librarians. There are 30 such schools throughout Russia. Our students specialize in library science and library work. General studies in Humanities is first part of study, and then they specialize in their third year of study. There are four different area of concentration: Duma [?], Bibliography, Education Management of Information Resources Analysis of Information Resources Information Systems Technologies The standards are based on past and present practices. Russia follows systems used in the international community. Equivalent of Bachelor's degree is 240 credits. Masters degree is 120 more credits. Time frame is 4 years. An additional 30 credits may be added for educational credits. They are tested on skills against the objective and there are also professional competencies. We are trying to give our students essential qualifications: Technical ; general erudition ; people skills -- these are essential skills. Two abstract examples, are School Librarian and Media. "Universities in a Globalizing World," a little teaser was an International Conference on libraries, given near Moscow just after we left. [?] .
ACRL DELEGATE PRESENTATION:
Chandrika Shantram - Baker College Question and answer followed.
Bede Mitchell, Georgia Southern University asked question related to IT.

Walking to the University in the snow.		Walking to the University in the snow.	Walking to the University in the snow. Slippery!	View of the central building of the Moscow State University of Culture and the Arts with our dog escorts.

Bread and salt ceremony to welcome delegation		Bread and salt ceremony to welcome delegation	Bread and salt ceremony to welcome delegation

Girls who welcomed us in the Bread and salt ceremony, seated			Study and reading area

Multi-media majors taping the visit.		Special Collections librarian describing exhibit of the history of the university and the work of Genrietta Karlovna Adele-Derman, a Simmons College graduate (began 1907 and completed degree in 1936), who became the first library director and head of library school in 1930.	Special Collections librarian describing exhibit of the history of the university

Camila Alire with staff and translator		Library tour	Students working in media lab	Library tour

Staff adopted plants as "pets". Here, one "pet" reaches out.		Bede Mitchell in Rector Krotova's office.	Dr. Krotova, Rector addresses the delegation. Camila to the left. Flowers are gifts for the anniversary of the institution.	Dr. Krotova, Rector addresses the delegation. Camila to the left. Flowers are gifts for the anniversary of the institution

Dr. Krotova, Rector addresses the delegation. Flowers are gifts for the anniversary of the institution.		The delegation in the office of Dr. Krotova.	Presentation of Puerto Rico gift to Dr. Krotova by Brunilda Figueroa	Presentation of Puerto Rico gift to Dr. Krotova by Brunilda Figueroa. Feathers of Puerto Rico birds, framed.

Presentation of Puerto Rico gift to Dr. Krotova by Brunilda Figuero		Presentation of Puerto Rico gift	Interpreter, staff, and Dr. Krotova	Interpreter, staff, and Dr. Krotova

Interpreter, staff, and Dr. Krotova		Interpreter, Camila and Dr. Krotova	The meeting room with staff and delegation seated	The meeting room with staff and delegation seated