This is a record!

Publications from the funds of the Scientific library of the Russian Geographical Society. Photo by Alexander Philippov
Publications from the funds of the Scientific library of the Russian Geographical Society. Photo by Alexander Philippov

The number of unique visitors of the electronic library of the Russian Geographical Society has exceeded million people!

The Russian Geographical Society has become the collection and dissemination center for geographical, statistical and ethnographic information of Russia from the very moment of its foundation. The library was founded at the same time with the organization as «the one of the most important tutorials for working of the members of the Geographical Society».

The Scientific library of the Russian Geographical Society represents specialized collection of books and maps, largest in Russia and Europe today. There are publications on all aspects of geography amongst them, and the literature on related subjects, such as meteorology and geology, mineralogy and soil science, botany and zoology. A considerable number of works are dedicated to history, archaeology, ethnography, and to the problems of development of economy, trade and means of communication.

  

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Cards from the alphabetical catalog of the Scientific library of the Russian Geographical Society. Photo by Alexander Philippov
Cards from the alphabetical catalog of the Scientific library of the Russian Geographical Society. Photo by Alexander Philippov

One of the particular features of the Library of the Russian Geographical Society as, however, of the majority of specialized libraries, has always been the limit of access to the funds. However, since the year of 2013, thanks to the foundation of the electronic library, everyone has got an opportunity to see the unique archives of the Society.
From year to year the attendance of the unique full-text electronic library had been significantly increasing. 4362 unique visitors entered the website in 2013, and 207 765 – in 2014, and there was 633 959 of them in 2015 already, and the number of guests of the website exceeded 1mln people in 2016.

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Publications from the funds of the Scientific library of the Russian Geographical Society. Photo by Alexander Philippov
Publications from the funds of the Scientific library of the Russian Geographical Society. Photo by Alexander Philippov

The electronic library is being visited by thousands of people daily.

The publications from the private collections of the members of the Society are being the part of the fund of the Scientific library of the Russian Geographical Society, they are the following: the collection of Petr Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, Yuliy Shokalskiy, Vladimir Obruchev and other outstanding geographers. There are hundreds of books from the personal library of the first Chairman of the Society the Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich. At the present time the electronic collections are gradually supplemented by the publications from the archives of Yuliy Shokalskiy and the professor of the Leningrad State University Ivan Babkov for Crimea.