Ser 05 - Russian State University for the

Series 05	Russian State University for the Humanities - Library Moscow [November 13]
Contact: Ms. Luidmilla L. Batova, Director of the Libraries of the Russian State University for Humanities
HISTORY:
The University is located in the center of Moscow on Miusskaya Ploshad close-by the Novoslobodskaya metro-station and Tverskaya Street in Moscow. At this main campus there are 7 buildings that house the administrative offices and the classrooms. The university has a multi-media center that houses 14 computer rooms, all with access to the internet. The library of the university contains some 1.5 million volumes, including reference works, and many foreign publications. Related to the university, but located across the city on Nikolskaya Street, near the Kremlin, is the RSUH Institute for History and Archives. Housed in the building that once was home to the Moscow Synodal Printing House early in the nineteenth century, the Institute serves the students of the university as well as scholars. The Center for Russian as a Foreign Language (RFL) is also an academic subdivision serving a large foreign population. A sub0set of the Department of International Relations, the Center provides students courses in Russian language and Culture. Instruction is based on the traditional lecture model as well as a team approach that groups students into units of 2-7 to study specific subjects. The library also supports this program with a variety of resources. The university was formed from two well-known institutions, the Moscow Public University named after Alfons L. Shanyavsky and Moscow State Institute for History and Archives. RSUH has retained the traditions of both these former schools. The combined facility became a university in 1991 as a result of the work done by the Moscow State Institute for History and Archives that was founded in 1930 as a center for the preparation of archivists. The focus of the Institute shifted over time and became a center for scientific research. Today RSUH provided study in the area of archives but also in the areas of history, bibliographic instruction, and the study of archaeology and palaeontology. Research methodology is at the heart of most of its programs. The mission of the university is committed to the following objectives: The orientation of educational and scientific activity towards the support, renaissance and cultural life of Russia; The fundamental humanistic education and its bearing on the social aspects of the individual and the community; The development of unique and new directions in the field of the humanities; The co-integration of Russian humanistic studies with world trends.
REPORT: Meeting at Russian State University for Humanities Library, November 13, 2007 We were taken on a tour by Ms. Luidmilla L. Batova, Director of the Libraries of the Russian State University for Humanities. She told us that the libraries were established in 1912 by a wealthy merchant, who left his fortune to found an open university in Moscow for people of all levels of income and all nationalities. There are three locations in Moscow, with more than one million titles, including electronic, and a staff of approximately 100. The library owns 35,000 rare volumes dating from the 15^th century to the present. The University was originally the Institute of History and Archives, and now has diverse programs in linguistics, translation studies, oriental studies, antique studies and records, etc. The Library houses publications in 26 languages, receives 8000 new titles a year. It is one of the few libraries in Russia with a department to conserve and restore old documents, and performs conservation works for other libraries as well. The Library is well-staffed by Russian standards, and has been able to retrospectively convert approximately half their catalog to electronic records. In response to questions from the delegates she told us that the interlibrary loan of books is declining in Russia in recent years, but Moscow libraries continue to exchange materials. One reason for the decline in ILL is the fact that there is no clear settlement of who is responsible for books once they leave the library. Mailing materials between libraries is also inconvenient; packages take at least seven days to be mailed between Moscow and St. Petersburg, and once arrived, must be picked up from the post office. Packages are not insured. There are no cooperative borrowing agreements between universities in Moscow, (she could not speak for other regions), but individual students can apply for library privileges at their university. Regarding digital projects, she said their library has digitized approximately 200 books from their collections dating from the 18^th and 19^th century. They had received funding from the Soros Foundation for these projects, but funding had not been continued by the government. They had been encouraged by a recent announcement of the creation of a national program for financing libraries, but it was too early to know how that would work. Regarding a question about the pay of librarians, she said that they were poorly paid relative to other professions, and like US libraries, found that young librarians were frequently able to find better-paid work by leaving the profession. Their multi-media library was one of the first in Moscow when it was opened in 1998, and combines electronic, periodical, and audio/visual collections, as well as providing internet access to students and personnel to help them use the media collections. An unusual feature of the library was the availability of plaster copies of famous statuary and frescoes from the great museums of Europe for the use of their students, from the collections of the Pushkin Museum. Kate Gordon gave a presentation on copyright and open discussion followed. The topic of distance learning was introduced. This is important to the university because it has 40 branches in different cities, and must provide service to students in outlying areas. Lecturers sometimes travel to branches to teach, and the university has online courses and testing. The libraries provide all new students with an online course on information heuristics to teach them how to access information systems. Brunilde Figueroa-Marrero introduced the topic of library assessment and evaluation. We learned that in Russian libraries, assessment was hardly ever practiced. They primarily are evaluated on quantitative measures, such as funding and collection numbers. All types of libraries are assessed pretty much the same way. The issue today is assessing the quality of libraries, using scientifically validated instruments. Some delegates then discussed the ARL LibQual program, which uses a nationally normed instrument to survey library users in such areas as collections, services, and physical environment. In response to questions, it was explained that it was originally created as a marketing instrument for businesses, and was adapted by library professionals for use in academic libraries. Further discussion on the need to adapt such instruments to the local language and culture followed, using Puerto Rican libraries as examples. We ended the discussion with the promise to send a bibliography on LibQual, and sample questions to the university library. Brenda Dingley
Notes:
Presentation: Brunilde Figueroa-Marrero introduced the topic of library assessment and evaluation and described the work that was being done in this area in her library at the Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico.
Photographs:

Russian State University for Humanities, entryway.	Russian State University for Humanities, entryway with poster.	Library cabinet display o unique books.	Luidmilla L. Batova, Director of the Libraries of the Russian State University for Humanities

Reading room and workstations in library	Luidmilla L. Batova, Director of the Libraries of the Russian State University for Humanities with translator, Olga.	Luidmilla L. Batova, Director of the Libraries of the Russian State University for Humanities, with translator Olga.	Kate, in collections area.

Brenda, Olga, and Director Batova.	Central service station in Media Center in Library.	Central service station in Media Center in Library, with painting by Axel Lind of the Fall of the Berlin Wall in background.	Central service station in Media Center in Library.

Contemporary painting by Danish artist Axel Lind (1907 - ), of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.	Media Center in Library	Workstation in library.	Reading room in the library.

Lower floor collection of reproduction sculpture used for study by students.	Lower floor collection of reproduction sculpture used for study by students.	Lower floor collection of reproduction sculpture used for study by students.	Director Luidmilla Batova.

"The Discus Thrower," plaster of paris cast of original, used for study.	Olga and curator in the Special Collections.	Special Collections. Representative examples of rare items that pertain to the United States, as well as early representative works from the collection.	Special Collections. Representative examples of rare items that pertain to the United States, as well as early representative works from the collection. Olga and curator.

General meeting of the staff of the Russian State University for Humanities Library and ACRL delegation. .	General meeting of the staff of the Russian State University for Humanities Library and ACRL delegation. .	General meeting of the staff of the Russian State University for Humanities Library and ACRL delegation. .	General meeting of the staff of the Russian State University for Humanities Library and ACRL delegation. .

General meeting of the staff of the Russian State University for Humanities Library and ACRL delegation. .	General meeting of the staff of the Russian State University for Humanities Library and ACRL delegation. . Camila and Director Batova.	General meeting of the staff of the Russian State University for Humanities Library and ACRL delegation. Director Batova accepts gift from Pam Snelson. Camila to far right.	General meeting of the staff of the Russian State University for Humanities Library and ACRL delegation. Director Batova accepts gift from Pam Snelson. Camila to far right. .

General meeting of the staff of the Russian State University for Humanities Library and ACRL delegation. Director Batova accepts gift from Pam Snelson	General meeting of the staff of the Russian State University for Humanities Library and ACRL delegation. Director Batova accepts gift from Brenda Dingley.	General meeting of the staff of the Russian State University for Humanities Library and ACRL delegation. Director Batova accepts gift from Brenda Dingley.	General meeting of the staff of the Russian State University for Humanities Library and ACRL delegation. Director Batova accepts gift from Chandrika Shantram.

General meeting of the staff of the Russian State University for Humanities Library and ACRL delegation. Director Batova accepts gift from Chandrika Shantram.	Note: Painting of the Fall of the Berlin Wall is by Axel Lind, a Danish artist from Copenhagen. Lind was the founder of the Grenen Art Museum. He began as an opera singer, then writer/journalist, and then turned to art. The Axel Lind Foundation is a well known philanthropic organization that supports artists.