Documentary monument collection in scientific libraries: Expanding and limiting innovations

Abstract

Relevant issues of building the collections of documentary monuments in libraries are discussed: principal identification of monuments within the context of  functional converging of modern libraries, archives and museums; traditional and innovative approaches to collection structuring, populating, expanding; specific character of museum and archival collections of this type. The author provides multiple examples of traditional archival and museum items included into science library collections provided that they legitimately belong to certain documentary monument type or in case they appear to comprise a well-defined documentary component. The author proves that these documentary monuments non-characteristic for library collections are nevertheless principal for scientific libraries though they may not dominate: the core collections of universal or specialized scientific libraries are made of printed books, other publications, unique and rare valuable publications and items. The current tasks of optimization and updating of documentary monument collections in scientific libraries call for creative non-standard solutions aimed at expansion and modernization of these collections taking into account increased typological variability, i. e. new types and groups of documentary monuments, including valuable digital documents, to be acquired. Innovative approaches have to be based on theoretical, methodological and specialized foundation of expertise, selection, description, preservation activities and revealing new, non-typical collections, as well as on inclusion corresponding disciplines into the librarians’ advanced training curricula. The author emphasizes, however, that modernization does not imply depreciating traditional forms of dealing with the monuments which is the classic of library theory and practice.