Editorial: Going to Gothenburg?

In the scientific and publishing activities of the Russian State Library (RSL), one of the important and constant topics is The Library During the Great Patriotic War. The article examines the publications of the RSL and the publications of its staff on the history of the library during the Great Patriotic War, prepared in 1991—2025. Among the book publications devoted to this issue are the collection The Voice of the Past (1991), The Memorial Book of the Russian State Library (1995), the publications The Russian State Library During the Great Patriotic War: Chronicle of Life (2005), The Russian State Library During the Great Patriotic War: Front Line (2014), Not Only with Weapons: The Russian State Library During the Great Patriotic War (2020), published under the editorship of L.M. Koval; the collection of memoirs Remembering Wartime Childhood (2021), prepared by the Council of Veterans of the RSL; the richly illustrated publication Pages of Victory: Leninka in 1941—1945: Chronicle. Documents. Memoirs (2025), published under the supervision of A.Yu. Samarin. Among the articles presented in the professional press, we highlight the materials published in the journal Bibliotekovedenie: Book Exhibitions During the Great Patriotic War of 1941—1945 (from the History of the Russian State Library) by E.A. Tatarinova (2009, no. 5), Training of the Lenin Library Staff During the Great Patriotic War by E.B. Dudareva (2010, no. 2), The Lenin State Library of the USSR from Evacuation to the Great Victory (Following the Selected Documents and Photographic Materials of the Archives of the Russian State Library) by A.L. Divnogortsev (2015, no. 3), The Lenin State Library of the USSR During the Great Patriotic War: Preparation and Release of Bibliographic Publications by E.V. Gubina, G.L. Levin, and N.S. Maslovskaya (2020, vol. 69, no. 5). We also note the article by A.L. Divnogortsev, Lenin’s Library Employees in the Days of the Battle of Moscow, published in the journal Scientific and Technical Libraries (2016, no. 9). The activities of the State Library of the USSR named after V.I. Lenin (now the RSL) during the Great Patriotic War of 1941—1945 are discussed in a number of presentations by RSL employees at the conferences Rumyantsev Readings (in various years), Book Culture: The Experience of the Past and the Problems of the Modernity: On the 70th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. One of the key events of 2025 was the All-Russian scientific and practical conference Preserving the Historical Memory of the Great Patriotic War: The Role of Libraries, held at the RSL, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory. At the event, RSL specialists delivered 11 papers on the topic, which are presented in the conference proceedings. RSL publications are an important contribution to the history of the institution and the entire librarianship in Russia.

Introducing e-books into Swedish libraries has been influenced by the idea of equal access to all media for all Swedish citizens as well as by librarians’ wish to provide the best possible service to their users. Libraries perceived this new resource and service as a way of fulfilling their specific function in a democratic society, which is usually described as mediation (or transfer) of knowledge and culture to all. This is a common basis for the incorporation of new media and information resources (including e-books) into Swedish academic and public libraries. Apart from this common platform, we see other similarities in working with e-books in both types of libraries, but also a number of differences. Most of them relate to the position of libraries within their respective context and in relation to their specific role. Academic libraries are quite influential players in the global scholarly communication and supporters of both research and study processes. As such they are embedded in a mainly international market of scientific information and scholarly materials. They have significant resources provided by their parent universities for the acquisition of scholarly material and a wide choice of commercially available material from different providers. They are also incorporated into a national library consortium with great negotiation power. Thus, they have more freedom to experiment with a variety of business and pricing models offered on the international market. They also have a high competence in publishing and are often publishers themselves. Their involvement in research processes and in open access initiatives puts them in a position to provide expertise to researchers in the areas of publishing and intellectual property protection. Public libraries are part of the local cultural and educational landscape. As such, they depend on the production of media and content in national languages which helps cater to the needs and demands of the local population. They are also customers on the limited market of publishing, entertainment and education-related materials which help fulfil their function as educators. As public libraries offer open and free access to their resources to the entire population of a certain area, eventually covering the whole country, they are regarded as a disruptive element in the market economy. This perceived threat from public libraries was reborn with the emergence of e-books. Despite their differences, both academic and public libraries face similar challenges and problems relating to the management of their collections, creating metadata, and providing access to their content. So far, there haven’t been any mutually satisfactory solutions.

The relevance of the study is due to the need to fill the historiographical gap in the study of public libraries activities of pre-revolutionary Russia as an element of the provincial cultural environment. We consider formation and activities history of Tambov public library (opened in the city of Tambov in 1833). Novelty of the work is the introduction of previously unused historical sources in the characteristic of public libraries. The subject of the study are staffing table features, use pattern of the fund, ways of functioning of the stock company in public library, specifics of shares issue and disposition, social composition of readers. An important element of the study is the research of Tambov public library decline problems in post-reform time, reasons for the lack of material resources and attempts to transfer institution to the balance of the Tambov city budget. We note the role of private initiative in the arrangement of library at different stages of its development. We assess the books catalogues published at the institution which are one of the first printed bibliographies of public libraries in Russia. In the framework of literary preferences of library users study, we consider the assessments of the gymnasium director and Tambov Seminary rector, whose tasks included supervision of students’ reading and librarians’ implementation of circulars and decrees of public education minister. Theoretical and concrete historical analysis of Tambov public library allowed to draw conclusions about the significant impact of the library institution on the local cultural environment. We emphasize that the formation of library brought together the structure of provincial society, contributed to the qualitative social and cultural transformations of local population.

The article is devoted to the new form of reference service, so-called “the virtual reference service”. Its purpose is to provide the personalized information support to the remote users, without dependence on their site. Virtual reference service is constructed on a combination of opportunities of the automated search toolkit and professional skills of a bibliographer. Abroad the first virtual reference services have appeared in the middle of 1990th and now many foreign and Russian libraries have the specialized sections on the web-sites. In the Russian State Library the virtual reference desk has opened on April, 17, 2007. In spite of the fact that virtual help service of the Russian State Library has a small operational experience, it can be an example for successful realization of reference service on the basis of Internet technologies. It provides to the remote user efficiency, completeness and high quality of the information.

This article examines the state of public libraries in India, focusing on a select state laws and their policies. It highlights the urgent need for action, revealing that inadequate funding and limited engagement with the diverse needs of communities are major barriers preventing public libraries from functioning effectively as vital social infrastructure. Key challenges identified include poor policy implementation, inconsistent data on the number and condition of public libraries, and the need for systemic revitalization. Notably, only six southern states currently levy a library tax, 13 states do not mandate one, and 17 states lack any library legislation altogether. To empower public libraries, the article proposes several policy interventions. These include formulating a Model Library Act accompanied by a national policy to guide state efforts, ensuring sustainable funding, integrating digital technologies, and promoting community-led services. Community development and advocacy are critical to making public libraries accessible, inclusive, and responsive to the evolving needs of communities.

By the decision of the Interdepartmental Council for the Development of Librarianship of the Russian Federation under the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation in 2022 the Russian State Library (RSL) was instructed to start work on the formation of registers of educational programmes of higher education and additional professional education for library specialists in a dedicated section of the portal of the federal state information system “National Electronic Library”.At the beginning of 2024, the RSL conducted a pilot study to obtain information on secondary vocational education (SVE) programmes offered to librarians. A register of information on SVE programmes has not yet been created. As of June 2024, 41 educational institutions of secondary vocational education (colleges) implement 106 library programmes.The Register of the current main educational programmes of higher education implemented in the field of “Library and Information Activities” includes information on 75 educational programmes of higher education (bachelor’s and master’s degrees) of higher educational institutions in 34 subjects of the Russian Federation, including two new subjects of the Russian Federation — Donetsk People’s Republic and Lugansk People’s Republic (as of April 2024).In the Register of existing educational programmes of professional development and professional retraining for library specialists there are 278 programmes (32 professional retraining programmes and 246 professional development programmes), which are implemented in 35 subjects of the Russian Federation by almost 50 institutions of various types (as of April 2024).The needs of public libraries of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in library specialists with higher profile education account for more than half of the total needs in library specialists.Let us analyze the data obtained as a result of the All-Russian monitoring of staffing needs in the library sphere conducted by the RSL. The needs for professionals with secondary vocational education account for one third. Almost all subjects of the Russian Federation — participants of the monitoring also indicated the need for library specialists with secondary or higher non-core education and core additional education. At the same time, it was revealed that higher profile education is preferable for library staff.The data presented in the article, considered in the aggregate, allow assessing the state of the educational space of Russian librarians, as well as identifying the problems of training specialists for the library and information sphere.

Library and Bibliographic Classification (LBC) is the national classification system of Russia. Its support and modernization in accordance with the latest requirements of scientific work is one of the priorities of the Russian State Library (RSL). The relevance of this task is determined by the wide scope of the LBC application, covering numerous groups of Russian libraries. At present, the Research Centre for LBC Development (RC LBC) of the RSL has started the preparation of the second stage of modernization of the Medium schedules, which are the basis for the whole classification. An important role in the development of the “Concept of the Second Edition of the LBC Medium Schedules” is played by the opinion of library specialists who apply the tables in practice in their daily activities in the organization of collections and catalogues. In the course of the questionnaire survey conducted by the RC LBC RSL in 2023, experts from libraries formulated proposals for improving various sections of the LBC tables. On the basis of these recommendations the main directions for further modernization of the tables, including the historical section, are outlined.In connection with the identified need to deepen the detailing of the Contemporary History sections, an analysis of literature on current events in Russian history, not yet reflected in the tables, was carried out. It is proposed to include the Russian military operation in Syria, Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s reunification with Crimea, Donbass, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. It is necessary to clarify and change some outdated formulations in the methodological guidelines, in particular, in the divisions related to the history of Ukraine. It is concluded that the creation of a new “Concept of Development of Library and Bibliographic Classification” is impossible without practitioners, whose proposals help to determine the main directions of its modification.

The International Scientific and Practical Conference “Young Leaders in Library Science” was held for the first time by the Russian State Library (RSL) in September 2022 as part of celebration of the 160th anniversary of the Moscow Public Museum and Rumyantsev Museum with the participation of the National Library of Russia (NLR) and the Section 31 on scientific research work of the Russian Library Association (RLA). The idea of the conference — to identify the present and future leaders of scientific projects and research in the modern library and information sphere of the country — has no analogues.The conference was attended by representatives of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, the National Research University — Higher School of Economics and the leading universities of Moscow that train staff for libraries — the Moscow State Linguistic University and the Moscow State Institute of Culture. For the first time, the results of the All-Russian monitoring of the staffing needs of libraries in 2022 in terms of the presence of young and qualified specialists in the sector were presented to the wide audience.For two days, three sections worked at the conference site: “Scientific research: in libraries, about libraries, for libraries”, “Applied scientific research in the library field: modern approaches and results” and “Library personnel: higher and additional professional education”. The latter was timed to the 100th anniversary of organization of specialized professional training of librarians within the RSL (1922—2022).511 participants from 9 neighbouring countries have previously registered to participate in the conference. 68 reports and papers of specialists from federal, regional, municipal, university libraries, universities, scientific organizations from 24 regions of Russia and three CIS countries were presented. The speakers were students and postgraduates, 8 doctors of sciences and 29 candidates of sciences, as well as managers and practitioners engaged in applied research as part of their direct work. Following the results of the conference, the collection of the best reports will be published in 2023.243 full-time participants attended the conference; the broadcasts of the events were viewed 2,243 times only at the time of its closure.The result of the conference was to identify the most relevant topics of scientific research in the area of library science, bibliography science and book studies, as well as specialists who will develop library science in the coming years and who will work in these scientific areas.

The significant changes that have occurred in the communications scenario, including the new environment of the network society, have prompted the development of both active audiences and important segments of citizens willing to participate in communications processes that are technologically mediated. Despite the importance of the transformation for all communication processes and for journalism, digital native media outlets have not quite made a significant progress in creating their own formats in order to manage and channel the citizens' inputs in journalistic pieces of information. Although such digital media outlets have opened avenues for collaboration, they still experience difficulties to make the most of the possibilities offered by this new scenario. This text presents an overview of the current situation in Spain and Portugal and analyses other potential alternatives.

Framing o teoría del encuadre en comunicación. Orígenes, desarrollo y panorama actual en España

Comedores preescolares y escolares. Guías, recomendaciones y normativa en España

Pyrethroid resistance of Helicoverpa armigera in Spain: current status and agroecological perspective

IntroductionGeriatric oncology (GO) is a discipline that focuses on the management of elderly patients with cancer. The Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM) created a Working group dedicated to geriatric oncology in February 2016.ObjectivesThe main goal of this study was to describe the current situation in Spain regarding the management of elderly cancer patients through an online survey of medical oncologists.MethodsA descriptive survey was sent to several hospitals by means of the SEOM website. A personal e-mail was also sent to SEOM members.ResultsBetween March 2016 and April 2017, 154 answers were collected. Only 74 centers (48%) had a geriatrics department and a mere 21 (14%) medical oncology departments had a person dedicated to GO. The vast majority (n = 135; 88%) had the perception that the number of elderly patients with cancer seen in clinical practice had increased. Eighteen (12%) oncologists had specific protocols and geriatric scales were used at 55 (31%) centers. Almost all (92%) claimed to apply special management practices using specific tools. There was agreement that GO afforded certain potential advantages. Finally, 99% of the oncologists surveyed believed it and that training in GO had to be improved.ConclusionsFrom the nationwide survey promoted by the Spanish Geriatric Oncology Working Group on behalf of SEOM, we conclude that there is currently no defined care structure for elderly cancer patients. There is an increasing perception of the need for training in GO. This survey reflects a reality in which specific needs are perceived.

Current use of Social Media in Neurosurgery in Spain

School lunch menus in Spain. A review on recommendations and policy