The journal version of the analytical review presented at the Second International Professional Forum “Crimea-2016”. Threatening ‘information explosion’ and ‘information collapse’, information addiction, information security, and other problems of information society are discussed. The author also explores the issue of the so called ‘information revolutions’, and analyzes the status of book publishing in Russia and the world. Five key trends that, in IFLA experts’ opinion, are to change the information environment are listed. Special attention is given to the information technologies used in libraries.

Traditional and innovative aspects of the project of the non-fiction popular NAUCHKA library are examined. Interaction and complementarity of traditional information (based on scientific popular books) and innovative communication (based on popular scientific events and happenings) vectors of the library’s activities are reviewed.

Findings of the study of ILL and EDD users’ orders in the subject area of history being forwarded through the RAS Siberian Branch are discussed. The orders are classified by types, chronology, media, delivery terms, types of libraries to fulfill the orders, decline reasons. Prospects for acquiring historical documents from digital resources are examined.

Goals, tasks, organization and technological procedures of editing in cataloguing are examined in detail: from generating bibliographic records, entering data to ALIS to editing the catalog system, both card (alphabet and classified) catalogs and e-catalogs. Indexing content and technology are analyzed by types (full and selective, scheduled and operational, methodological editing and catalog maintenance). The author also addresses the issues of editing borrowed records, use of centralized cataloguing data, and improvement of cataloguing with customers’ feedback and proposals.

Existing Internet search engines are analyzed. Tagging, with its advantages and drawbacks, is examined as a popular method of Internet information organization and classification. The author concludes that every search engine is unique for its search algorithm, and combined use of many is seen and the most efficient for users.

The author reviews the materials of the London Book Fair 2016. He addresses the issues of user feedback for building new platforms, information accessibility for visually impaired people, open access and copyright, e-book sales, processing large data arrays and semantic methods, prospects for libraries.

It is a story of the commitment of the one and faintness of the other employees of the USSR State Library (Lenin’s Library) during the dramatic period of the fall 1941.