Digital and sociocultural transformations have influenced changes in the content of library activities and the expansion of its boundaries. The emergence of new methods and forms of working with information and library users, the development of new communication channels have updated the issue of the competencies of a modern librarian in a wide range of information and communication, cultural, educational, educational, scientific-analytical, social-pedagogical, marketing and other technologies. The need to track and understand the tools that are relevant for library practice is an important task of library and bibliographic sciences; timely integration of new methods and technologies into the process of training library personnel is a task of professional education. The purpose of the article is to assess the cognitive and didactic potential of a qualified methodical and technological description of library and information activities for developing the competence of library staff and improving the quality of traditional and innovative products and services provided by libraries. Based on the analysis of scientific and educational publications for higher library schools, terminological standards, the “blurriness” and ambiguity of the definitions of the concepts “methodic” and “technology” in relation to library and information activities have been established, as well as the lack of clear ideas about the structure and content of technological and methodical description of library processes in educational publications. In particular, the limitation of technological description solely to the process algorithm has become widespread; the description of methods in demand in library practice is characterized by a high degree of subjectivity. As a result of the analysis, specific features of methodical and technological knowledge are formulated in relation to the social and humanitarian sphere, which may be in demand to substantiate the principles of delimiting one from the other. A framework structure for the technological description of library processes, that is acceptable for educational publications in the library and information sector, has been identified. The issue of their methodical description deserves special and careful consideration. 

Search and development of library activity areas, when it is no more the only custodian of information, and the organization, which provides access to it, is one of the pressing present problems. Scientific libraries have long been engaged in the popularization of science. Now, besides popularization, in the relations between science and society, one highlights the understanding of science and the involving of public in science, as well. The author analyzes the existing forms of library activities on the example of ethical problems of science from the viewpoint of their suitability for the main areas of interaction between science and the public. The author comes to following the conclusions: 1) the advantages of acceptable forms are their high quality due to the invitation of researchers to participate; control over the agenda (the event plan); the ability to select an audience (it can be very big); direct communication; inclusion of external partners as experts and the ability to record the event and to demonstrate it via Internet. The disadvantages can be the difficulty to control the perception of information (there is no complete control by researchers; dependence on the resources of organization; the need for additional work to attract readers; possession of communication skills; 2) almost all forms of library work are suitable for science popularization. Much fewer ones can be used for understanding scientific phenomena and results. At the same time, all of them require direct participation of scientists. Any form (besides databases and repositorium) can be used to involve the general public into science. For different purposes in this area, different forms are necessary; 3) created in libraries repositories and scientific databases are controlled by scientists poorly. They can be used not only by scientists, thus increasing the possibility of misinterpretation by society; 4) when creating advisory bibliographic resources the position of the expert selecting and advising popular science literature, is important, as well as the opinion of the readers who have the opportunity to post their viewpoint on any advises document. 

The article is an analytical review of reports and presentations made at the scientific conference “Application of Artificial Intelligence in Library and Information Activities” and held by INION RAS on May 29, 2024. The current state of Artificial Intelligence (AI) use in libraries in Russia and neighboring countries is described, including examples of the use of neural network applications in commercial projects and libraries of various types. Particular attention is paid to the experience of the Russian State Library, which actively uses ready-made software solutions and develops its own AI products. Among the problems hindering the active implementation of AI in library practice, the following are highlighted: insufficient awareness of librarians about the capabilities of AI, imperfection of currently existing applications, high corporate information security requirements, and the lack of labeled datasets for training neural networks. The challenges for librarianship associated with the spread of AI are also considered, including the possibility of replacing the traditional functionality of librarians with the work of artificial neural networks. The main areas of prospective development of artificial intelligence in librarianship include the creation ofsystems for collapsing information about documents and systems for advisory reading. The current tasks, which constitute a whole new area of work for libraries, include users training in AI tools, which is designed to give the audience a clear understanding of the capabilities and limitations of GPT systems. It is emphasized that the development of artificial intelligence can lead to a radical change in the role of libraries in the structure of information exchanges, which requires the librarianship to carefully study the situation and adapt to new technological conditions. 

One of the key areas of the state policy in the field of scientific and technological development of the country is to create an infrastructure and conditions for conducting research and implementing high-tech technologies. Special attention is given to the development of the scientific and information sphere. The research aims to study the implemented approaches to developing the scientific and information sphere and creation of concept and structure for the navigator on digital scientific and information space of the Ural region. The article analyzes the development of the scientific information sphere in the context of digital transformation. Based on the results obtained, the concept for forming the structure of the digital scientific and information space of the Ural region is developed. The most suitable format for the reference system – a navigator – was chosen as the basis. The analysis and evaluation of existing solutions in the field of formation of navigation systems on digital space of scientific knowledge are carried out. Based on the results obtained and formulated in the task concept, a structure of the navigator for scientific infosphere of the Ural region is developed. The developed navigator will provide aggregation, registration, systematization and accessibility of information about scientific institutions of the Ural region and their information resources in digital space. This will contribute to the dissemination and popularization of research and development results conducted by scientists and research teams in the region. 

The article reveals the relevance of practical application of media analytics systems for libraries. Media analytics is a field of research focused on the extraction of specific information from the media and social networks in order to make optimal decisions at various levels, providing access to data on the preferences, actions, location and emotions of people - consumers of products and services. The problem is the need to track media activity and user activity in social networks by means of modern technologies in order to study the media image of an organization or person formed and to assess media presence. The aim of the article is to analyze in a comparative way the capabilities of automated services of media and social media monitoring “Medialogy” and “SCAN-Interfax” on the example of SPSTL SB RAS. The results, of the research conducted during the period 11.05.2023–11.05.2024, are presented. Despite the differences in the quantity of the publications found by the systems, common trends are identified. They are: the decrease, although insignificant, in the number of references on the library compared to the previous period of similar temporal coverage; the leading role of the official website; the neutral nature of most reports; one and the same key information occasions; regional affiliation and source categories, etc. It is found that the analysis parameters and functionality of the above-mentioned resources are similar, and the toolkit of the systems allows us the evaluation the effectiveness of both separate informational occasions and the overall PR-activity of the library. “SCAN-Interfax” and “Medialogy” systems offer a convenient toolkit for creating detailed and graphically expressive reports on the representation of SPSTL SB RAS in the media space. This approach seems innovative and promising in relation to the activities of library institutions and deserves replication as an empirical tool for scientific research (evaluation of marketing and PR activities of a library, management efficiency, an organization image), for the development of practical recommendations to improve library content. 

CIS border cooperation is important for strengthening good-neighborly relations and further development of the humanitarian space. The article presents the results of the Russian State Library study “Interregional and border cooperation of Russian libraries with the CIS member states. 2010– 2020”. The study’s object is the central universal libraries of border entities of the Commonwealth countries. The purpose of the article is to reflect the results of the study, concerning the formation of information resources and socio-cultural activities. The main research method is a survey, supplemented by the analysis of websites, literature and reports at conferences and round tables. The sources of acquisition of publications in the languages of neighboring countries, forms and methods of working with users have been studied. The state of cooperation in the field of formation of information resources and sociocultural activities, the prevailing areas of interaction have beene determined. Priorities for more effective cooperation have been identified: strengthening ties with regional ethno-cultural societies; ensuring accessibility of documentary collections of national publications, development of electronic information resources; use of modern technologies and forms of work in all areas of cooperation between border libraries; exchange of professional information and experience; active search for sources of funding for work on cross-border cooperation.

The article is devoted to the problem of false bibliographic records and links fabricated by a chatbot with generative artificial intelligence. Text generators have become popular due to the ability to save time and automate the content creation process. Using arrays of heterogeneous data, artificial intelligence is able to combine and interpret various sources of information and create new texts based on them. For bibliographic records, which are a special type of text, any paraphrasing becomes disastrous, because elements of a bibliographic record are unique identifiers of a specific information resource. Spreading of fabricated bibliographic records and links to non-existent publications indicates that artificial intelligence is not able to accurately recognize which parts of the text should be considered as bibliographic data, which significantly limits the possibilities of using chatbots in scientific research. Over time, as technology improves, artificial intelligence must learn to identify bibliographic records and process them differently from ordinary text – copy them exactly, not paraphrase them. However, until these problems are resolved, researchers should exercise caution: information obtained via the use of ChatGPT should be verified. The author of the article focuses on the importance of creating preventive measures to prevent the dissemination of unreliable bibliographic records and references, since this can lead to serious failures in the functioning of the bibliographic information system.

 The purpose of the article is to present the handwritten collection of the Irkutsk archpriest Fortunat Ivanovich Petukhov (1789–1872), formed in the middle of the 19th century. The author has made an attempt 1) to reconstruct the composition of the manuscripts and documents of the collection, 2) to trace the ways of its formation, 3) to identify the features of the selection of manuscripts and to trace the degree of influence on the fate of the collection of the first presentation in the work by Moscow scholar N. P. Bocharov. Textual analysis of a number of works mentioned in the list has made it possible for other authors to attribute some of the texts presented by N. P. Bocharov as manuscripts of his collection, and not as the author’s works of Fr Fortunatus. We are talking about the well-known work of the Irkutsk local historian N. V. Semivsky, used for the autobiographical notes by F. I. Petukhov and as an integral part of other works by the archpriest, as well as about the manuscript of a much lesser-known work by another Irkutsk priest, Fr Nikifor Parnyakov. This gives reason to assume the possibility of a similar attribution of other works indicated by N. P. Bocharov with the name of F. I. Petukhov. Several manuscripts from the collection of F. I. Petukhov were published by the biographer as part of his book. The location of the collection of Archpriest Fortunatus Petukhov has not been found; the article suggests directions for searching for a possible repository – materials from the archival funds of Moscow monasteries, connected with the life and activities of people from Siberia – Zlatoust, Sretensky, etc., as well as searches for the personal archives of Fr Fortunatus’ descendants.

Basing on the materials of historical science, the analysis of the organization of library interaction between science and society is given. It is noted, that the effectiveness of the development of historical self-awareness and worldview is due not only to the state of historical science, but also the organization of interaction between science and society, especially the interpretation of key events in the history of our country, which are the subject of disputes leading to discord in modern Russian society. Using the example of the new chronology, the negative impact of pseudoscientific historical research on the historical worldview and attitude to history in Russian society is shown. The author assumes that the reasons for this is in the 1990s–2010s, when the state has “withdrawn” itself from the sphere of political and natural science education. As a result, the state-oriented educational model of librarianship has been replaced by a personality-oriented model focused on the absolutisation of information and leisure demand and making librarians free from the responsibility for the consequences of using information or a document obtained in the library. Domestic librarianship has gradually transformed from the sphere of education into the sphere of services. That has resulted in the fact – the Russian state has lost one of the effective institutions for promoting scientific and other policies, and the society has become unable to effectively resist the influence of pseudoscientific concepts, implemented in life thanks to marketing technologies. The author assumes that the adoption of the foundations of the state policy of the Russian Federation in the field of historical education adopted in 2024 creates conditions for correcting library construction towards the interests of not only the individual, but also the state and society. It is proposed to take the state-oriented educational model of librarianship, created in the USSR, as the basis. It should be complemented by the harmonization of the interests of the individual, society and the state. The author reveals the following point of view: the involvement of libraries in the implementation of the state policy of historical education should include purposeful acquisition of library collections with recommended scientific and popular scientific literature on history; information and bibliographic provision of historical education, activation of library services and, first of all, reading. The content of this policy is suggested to facilitate the transition to an educational model of librarianship at a qualitatively new updated level.

Open science extends the principles of openness and collaboration to the entire scientific process, from hypothesis through experiment and data collection to publication of research results. There appears a wide variety of tools that enable and facilitate the openness of research, as well as support the practice of open science. This review considers how libraries can use new technologies and tools to support open scientific research. It describes the stages of the research cycle, and shows how a librarian can help to make the results of research publicly available, how a librarian can be integrated into the research process using open science practices. We conducted a comparative analysis of the practices of open science and the system of open tools to support the life cycle of research, developed in the SPSL SB RAS. A Guide for Librarians on the use of open tools to support the research process has been developed. The guide can be used by libraries to support researchers throughout the research lifecycle, as well as to promote open science practices in our country.