The author reviews the cataloguing practice during the card catalog epoch when card catalogs made the system, and bibliographic search was accomplished all over the catalog system. He says that with computer-aided systems bibliographic search has gone down, while many functions of e-catalogs are not applied. It is proposed to re-organize search by limiting use of keywords in indexing. Instead it is more advisable to apply subject headings in the indices to classification tables (these are supplied with classification number). Search options can be expanded with using classification numbers and those format fields that are not in use today. The author also makes several minor remarks and suggests his solutions to improve the defects.

The system of the research institute’s library information resources is described. The electronic resources generated both by the institute itself and other producers are characterized as the most dynamic system component. Collection development profile relevant to researchers’ current information needs and designed to form uniform document and information environment of the Institute is suggested.

The author reviews the findings of the survey accomplished at the Fundamental Library of Perm State Pedagogical University for the Humanities. The questionnaire method was applied as an efficient, documentary, and flexible one in information acquiring and processing. Several aspects of efficiency of using digital education resources are evaluated. The author undertakes to analyze the trends in the Library activities: which new methods are advisable to apply, which problems need to be addressed.

The tasks of identifying unsatisfied user needs, target consumer groups and competitive library information products and services within the library marketing managerial function are discussed. The author argues that libraries should combine non-profit and commercial marketing. She also suggests that commercial marketing should become a strategic planning tool. Strategic vectors and measures used to promote library information resources, products and services at Novokuznetsk Municipal Information Library System are described.

In conjunction with a multi-year renovation of Concordia University's main library, a comprehensive collections reconfiguration project was launched. The new library floor plans provided for increased study space and a reduced footprint for stacks. Significant deselection of physical format materials such as circulating books, reference works, government publications, and microforms was therefore necessary in order to achieve the necessary space reduction and still maintain room for growth. Although different weeding strategies were developed for specific collections and disciplines, the key factors considered were usage, currency and duplication. By focusing on reducing duplication - multiple copies, superseded editions, replication across different formats - and using data extracted from the library system, it has been possible to remove a large volume of items with minimal decision making required from subject librarians. Virtually all weeded materials have been sent to a non-profit reseller or recycled, in keeping with the university's commitment to environmental sustainability. This approach has resulted in the removal of over 60,000 duplicate copies from the monograph collection alone. At the same time access has been retained to most unique content within the collection, allaying faculty concerns about library deselection. In less than two years the original goals of space reduction for print and microform holdings have been exceeded.

In 2014, the Marian Library at the University of Dayton completed a long overdue revision of its collection development policy. The new document more clearly defined the scope of the library’s collections, and was intended to guide new acquisition decisions. However, this new document had the unexpected benefit of providing a framework for deselection projects that enabled preservation and improved access to the collections. This paper will discuss and analyze two of these projects, and demonstrate how the revised collection development policy laid the foundation for successful deselection outcomes. In the first case study, legacy collections of genre-based ephemera were heavily weeded to remove photocopies, internet printouts, duplicates, and other out-of-scope materials. Both the challenges and benefits of weeding legacy reference files will be discussed. The second case study will examine a comprehensive review of the library’s inactive periodical holdings, consisting of over five hundred titles that were largely uncatalogued. Removing titles outside of the library’s collection scope transformed the collection into a manageable project for the cataloging staff to tackle. This formerly hidden collection, including rare periodicals not found elsewhere in the United States, is now in the process of being cataloged. Both projects transformed local practices and improved utilization of the library’s limited resources in staffing, time, space, and funding. Faced with legacy practices that compromised physical and intellectual control of materials, librarians leveraged a well-defined collection development policy to undertake two successful deselection projects. The policy was used to justify and guide deselection, ultimately improving both preservation and access.

The author investigates into an unexplored area of the stories of followers of N. Rubakin, his life principles and social philosophy, i.e. those people who were educated by Rubakin’s ideas and practiced them. He introduces an example of Mikhail A. Makarovsky (1893-1918), graduate from the Library Courses at L. A. Shanyavsky Public University, and reviews his activities. Fragments of Nicholas Rubakin - Mikhail Makarovsky correspondence are cited.

The 6-th Interregional Scientific and practical Conference “Information Multimedia Technologies: Development vectors” held at N. Nekrasov Central Universal Scientific Library is reviewed. The experience of using information multimedia resources and technologies in libraries, and new products of IT producers is discussed. The author concludes that information and communication technologies being introduced in a prompt manner are to improve services and enhance prestige of public libraries.