Central Scientific Library of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Modeling of the gypsy moth and nun moth ranges using climatic predictors and the updated climate database suggested potential consequences of the observed climate changes for these economically important insects. The climate changes during 1981–2010, as compared to those during 1951–1980, have predetermined a considerable northward and eastward expansion of these moths. New areas climatically suitable for the gypsy moth but isolated from its main range have appeared in Eastern Siberia, in the Aldan Upland region and to the north of Lake Baikal up to 60°N. The greatest expansion of the nun moth range was observed in the Lena Plateau and northern Aldan Upland regions. Some insignificant reduction of its range was found only in Altai. Merging of the Euro-Siberian and Far Eastern parts of the nun moth range is also possible.

One of the system-forming elements in the library sphere are central libraries of the Russian Federation subjects (national, territorial, regional), which provide methodical maintenance of library activities in their region. The main task of methodical centers is to develop and improve methods of work performed by library specialists. The Far Eastern State Scientific Library is the methodical center for public libraries in the Khabarovsk Territory. There is a specialized division – the Department of Research and Methodical work – in its structure. In the course of scientific and methodical activities, the division is implementing information, organizational, research and pedagogical functions, so the structure of the department includes a group of methodical maintenance, a group of specialists engaged in research work, and a licensed center for additional professional training. Well-organized professional communication is the key to the successful development of the region library sector. Consideration of methodological support as an activity to organize and maintain professional communication of library professionals will reveal how effectively such communication is organized, what types, forms and channels of communication are used in the process of methodological support of the library institution activities in the region. The Library gives great attention to the communication formation at various levels (interpersonal, group, mass), and strives to use all available forms (written, spoken, visual) and channels (spoken, document, electronic) of communication. The article objective is to elucidate the Library experience of methodical support of public libraries in the Khabarovsk Territory.

Sociological research “Human resources of public libraries: modern requirements for professional activity and opportunities for its implementation” was carried out by the Far Eastern State Scientific Library. It was made on the base public libraries in Khabarovsk region within the framework of the partnership and cooperation agreement with the National Library of Belarus. A comparative analysis of the results of the survey of employees in both libraries allowed to identify the characteristic features of personnel problems of public libraries of the Khabarovsk region, to assess the existing the library system of training, to show the level of professional selfassessment of employees, their willingness to accept new knowledge, to determine the professional competence that the managers and ordinary employees of libraries that would like to improve. Despite the geographical remoteness of the Khabarovsk region and Belarus, the peculiarities of social and historical development of the territories, the differences in the structure and density of municipal libraries network, the number of staff, the analysis of the results of the survey of library specialists showed the presence of common personnel problems in the library industry, regardless of the region and its social and economic well-being: the aging of the main staff in libraries, the shortage of specialized human resources and a significant number of specialists in related fields in library industry.

The article considers the Russian printing in the countries of the Asia-Pacific region (China, Japan, Korea, USA, etc.). The author offers the review of literature published in Russian in these countries, basing on the materials of the Russian North-East Asian collection of Hamilton Library of the University of Hawaii (Honolulu, USA), which is one of the best collections in the world on this subject. The article reports on the history of the Russian collection and its creators. The author discusses the terms “Russian book Diaspora” (publishing emigrant activities within the same country — China, Japan, USA, etc.) and “Russian book community” (publishing activities of people from Russia within the same city, such as Harbin, Shanghai, Tokyo; organizations or groups of individuals, etc.). Special attention is paid to the bibliographic description of this collection, which was first published in 2002 in the publishing house of the Russian State Library “Pashkov Dom” (“Russian print in China, Japan and Korea: Catalogue of the collection of Hamilton Library of the University of Hawaii”) and reprinted in the expanded version in 2016 under the title “Russian print in the Asia-Pacific region” (in 4 parts). The article also reports on other foreign collections that contain emigrant publications, including those printed in the countries of the Asia-Pacific region (the libraries of the University of California in Berkeley, the Hoover Institute for war, revolution and peace, and the Museum of Russian culture in San Francisco). The author presents the data on the work of scientific centre of the University of Hawaii for the study of the USSR / Russia “Soviet Union in Pacific Asia Rim”. The article analyses international cooperation of the University of Hawaii library with Russian libraries, in particular, its relations with the libraries of the Russian Far East. The author describes the project of the University of Hawaii Library to create the electronic library catalogue with complete bibliographic and historical information about each edition of the collection and to expand the exchange of literature and information.

The article deals with the problem of applying terms of the library local studies in practice. The essence is that lots of concepts, according to the author’s view, do not meet modern trends of social-economic development of the territory, it complicates the process of forming the regional documents collection in libraries. It is supposed to complete the conceptual row of the topic with more precise definitions and to introduce them into the lexicon of librarians-practitioners, it’s the article objective. Using the complex of research methods (an informative approach, comparative analysis of quotations, analyticsynthetic processing technique) the existing terminology was studied and views evolution of local library researchers was analyzed in relation to local history and regional documents. Arguments legality of applying the term "regional document" in the library practical activities is shown. As a result of the preliminary study, the author came to the conclusion about the need to clarify investigated terms, which should facilitate implementation of local history and regional studies work by librarians. It was proposed own interpretation of definitions and the refined scheme of the regional documents collection in the regional central library.

Sociological research “Human resources of public libraries: modern requirements for professional activity and opportunities for its implementation” was carried out by the Far Eastern State Scientific Library. It was made on the base public libraries in Khabarovsk region within the framework of the partnership and cooperation agreement with the National Library of Belarus. A comparative analysis of the results of the survey of employees in both libraries allowed to identify the characteristic features of personnel problems of public libraries of the Khabarovsk region, to assess the existing the library system of training, to show the level of professional selfassessment of employees, their willingness to accept new knowledge, to determine the professional competence that the managers and ordinary employees of libraries that would like to improve. Despite the geographical remoteness of the Khabarovsk region and Belarus, the peculiarities of social and historical development of the territories, the differences in the structure and density of municipal libraries network, the number of staff, the analysis of the results of the survey of library specialists showed the presence of common personnel problems in the library industry, regardless of the region and its social and economic well-being: the aging of the main staff in libraries, the shortage of specialized human resources and a significant number of specialists in related fields in library industry.

Book rewiew: Shcherbinina Yu. V. The book as an illusion: Caches, false libraries, art objects. Moscow: Alpina non-fiction,2023. 384 p.

In 2017 the Central Scientific Library of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (CSL FB RAS) in Vladivostok celebrates the 85th anniversary of its foundation. The publication uses rare materials from Vladivostok archives. CSL FBRAS formation was due to the enthusiastic orientalist A. V. Marakuev (1891-1955), who was its first Director (since 1932). Without a University degree, he educated himself the whole life, learnt Chinese and other foreign languages. During a trip around the world he lived in Harbin, where was engaged in scientific work. Arriving Vladivostok, Marakuev participated in opening the Far Eastern Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences. At that time, he has published many articles on bibliography and economic geography of the Far East and Oriental studies. A. V. Marakuev awarded a degree of candidate of geographical sciences for a series of his works. In difficult years of repression, Marakuev could form a unique book collection, which base was the Oriental Institute collection in Vladivostok (1899-1920). Unfairly repressed A. V. Marakuev continued research activities in Alma-Ata.

Using the example of the Harbin Polytechnic Institute Alumni Association, the authors examine the signs of corporate culture preserved in America by engineers of Russian origin. This association was established in San Francisco by Russian immigrants who had received higher engineering education in Harbin (China) and functioned in 1966 – the 1990s. The Association remains the least known among Russian public organizations in the United States, meanwhile, its activity clearly demonstrates some significant features of the early 20th-century Russian engineering community corporate culture. Ways of defining leadership and resolving disagreements, financial and paperwork discipline, solidarity with colleagues and mutual support, adherence to established taboos and rituals made the Association one of the most successful and long-life Russian public organizations in the USA. The Association's activity contraction, as the authors conclude, was connected with the death of the older generation of Russian engineers and the high-degree assimilation of their children. At the same time, it is concluded that the members of the Association succeeded in passing on the Russian engineers’ traditions to their children. The article is based on the Association documents from P.A. Shchelkov’s personal archive as well as materials from the Russian-language press in the USA and other emigrant publications which have been identified in the Museum of Russian Culture in San Francisco and the University of Hawaii Library (Honolulu, USA).

The article describes the lawyer, teacher and public figure Nikandr I. Mirolyubov (1870, Kazan province – 1927, Harbin). A graduate of the faculty of law of Kazan University (1897), in the first years of independent activity, he proved to be both a talented lawyer and a promising teacher, confirming this reputation throughout his life. Important milestones of Mirolyubov's legal career were his appointment as Prosecutor of the Kazan court chamber, participation in the investigation of the murder of the family of Emperor Nicholas II, and election as Chairman of the Amur Zemsky Sobor (Vladivostok, 1920). He initiated the creation and Chairman Of the society of Russian emigrants in Harbin (since 1921) and a number of other emigrant organizations. Mirolyubov's talent as a teacher was most clearly manifested during his work at the faculty of law in Harbin (1920-1926), where he was the Dean. Mirolyubov also contributed to Chinese studies, publishing a number of materials on the topic of Chinese law. Written using materials from archives and libraries in the United States and China, the article is dedicated to the centenary of Russian higher education in China.

The article is based on foreign collections of Russian printing materials. Their analysis has shown that some of the most active public associations in Russian China were the Cossack ones, which existed in Harbin, Shanghai and areas adjacent to the Soviet-Chinese border. The Cossacks paid great attention to printed publications. They published articles and information about their activities in the Russian press in China. The Cossack Union in the Far East developed a special publication activity. The Siberian, Transbaikal, Amur and Ussuri Cossack troops (associations) had their own press organs.

The article is devoted to reference literature printed in Russian in China in the first half of the XX century. Such literature was published in Russian in Harbin, Tianjin, Shanghai and other cities of China and was very important for emigrants in their daily lives or for moving around the country. Attached are examples of informational and professional reference books published by the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER). Biographies of authors and publishers are noted: S. M. Fomenko, Ar.-K. Yu. von Landesen, P. V. Shkurkin, N. M. Dobrokhotov, S. T. Ternovsky, G. G. Satovsky-Rzhevsky, N. N. Grozin, M. N. Gordeev and others. All reference books have been reviewed by the author de visu in Russian (Solzhenitsyn House of Russian Abroad, State Archive of the Russian Federation, etc.), foreign (University of Hawaii in Honolulu, Museum of Russian Culture in San Francisco, Hoover Institution Library, etc.) and in private collections.

The study is devoted to the history of Russian entrepreneurs in China in the first half of the twentieth century as it was reflected in the advertising of their business, placed mainly in local periodicals. During this period, Russian entrepreneurs achieved significant commercial success in many Chinese cities. The promotion of their products in the Chinese domestic market was largely the result of their skillful advertising activities. Advertising in Russian became especially widespread in China after the end of the Civil War in Russia. The most important centers of entrepreneurial and advertising activity of Russian entrepreneurs have become the Chinese cities of Harbin, Tianjin and Shanghai. Advertising activities reflect both the economic sphere of life of the Russian diaspora and the social needs of its representatives. In the course of studying the history of Russian entrepreneurship and advertising of business enterprises owned by immigrants from Russia, the authors repeatedly conducted field research in China, during which they studied former Russian commercial enterprises, often operating at the present time. Sources on the research topic also included documents in Russian and Chinese stored in museums and libraries in Heilongjiang province, Harbin and Shanghai.

Scientific work is one of the most important factors affecting the efficiency of individual libraries and the library industry as a whole. This is one of the main areas of regional universal scientific libraries’ work.The purpose of the article is to trace how this type of libraries’ scientific work – of the Far Eastern State Scientific Library – evolved in 1930-2020: from implementation of scientific and informational activities to scientific-research ones, through participation in centralized and collective scientific studies to initiating their own investigations.This work’ content aspects: priority topics of research and bibliographic products are in the center of consideration. The article also contains information about this library activity in terms of organizing and maintaining scientific communications.Document analysis and bibliographic are the methods used in the work.

Introduction. The development of the Russian Far East is one of the priorities of the Government of the Russian Federation. V. K. Arsenyev (1872–1930) was also engaged in these studies. In connection with the 150th anniversary of his birth, 2022 has been declared the year of this famous traveler and scientist. The purpose of the article is to analyze the economic interests of V. K. Arsenyev, who for most of his life dealt with the problems of the population of the Russian Far East and the development of the region, making complex expeditions based on economic goals. Until 1918 V. K. Arsenyev collected economic, ethnographic and other information in Primorye and the Amur region. In 1918 he explored Kamchatka, then, being an employee of Dalryba, he continued to collect economic information on the region. In the Soviet times he prepared recommendations for the Soviet leadership on the economic development of the region. Professional ties with fellow economists are noted (K. P. Lavrov, A. I. Karaev, A. M. Bryansky, A. A. Velikopolsky, P. N. Menshikov, F. A. Nedelsky, F. E. Ilyashenko, V. Ya. Isakovich, K. B. Shavrov and many others), with whom the traveler discussed economic ideas and exchanged information and literature. Materials and Methods. The basis for the publication was the personal archival and book collection kept in the Society for the Study of the Amur Territory in Vladivostok, as well as unpublished travel diaries and economic works of the scientist.

The article reveals previously unknown facts about the sinologist Sergei Alexandrovich Polevoy (1886—1971), who became famous due to his scientific, pedagogical and social activities in China. Being a native of dynasty that gave the world talented literary critics, writers and journalists, Polevoy from his youth was passionate about literature and collecting books alongside learning about China. His first academic work, prepared as a graduation paper at the Oriental Institute (Vladivostok), was devoted to periodicals in China; and his unique library composed of literature in many languages originated from the books on Oriental studies and linguistics. Living in China since 1917, Polevoy was a professor at Nankai University in Tianjin (since 1918) and then Peking University (since 1921), where he taught Chinese students the Russian language and literature. Using the introduction to Russian culture and literature as a new method of teaching, he brought up some famous Chinese writers and translators. His bookstore, opened in Beijing and having contacts with the International Book Company in Moscow, became a cultural bridge between Russia and China. Using the bookstore, Polevoy supplied Chinese students with textbooks and Russian classical literature, replenished the department of Slavic literature at the Beijing National Library, distributed Marxist literature and helped Chinese communist leaders establish contacts with the USSR. The authors also report the facts on the biography of Polevoyʼs son, Leonid, thanks to whom the Oriental Institute of the Far Eastern Federal University (Vladivostok) received the manuscript of S. Polevoy’s English-Chinese dictionary and his other materials on oriental studies. Leonid also presented his father’s book collection to Irkutsk, and these books served as the basis of the Humanitarian Centre — Library named after the Polevoys’ family. The article is based on materials from the Polevoys’ family archives and other private collections abroad.

The article tells about the Far Eastern librarian Nadezhda Abramovna Kanover, a follower of the bibliographer Z.N. Matveev, who played a great role in the development of librarianship in Vladivostok. The publication is based on the documents from the Current Archive of the Presidium of the Far East Branch of Russian Academy of Science (FEB RAS), Central Scientific Library (CSL) of FEB RAS and Society for Study of Amur Region (SSAR) that for the first time reveal unknown facts from N.A. Kanover life and characterize the situation in library science in the Russian Far East in 1930s — 1950s. Heading several libraries including the future CSL FEB RAS and library of Primorskiy branch of State Geographical Society (SFGS), N.A. Kanover put much efforts in collecting collections and making conditions for book storage, as well as promoted book culture by publishing articles and organizing book exhibitions. Thanks to her, Vladivostok received a unique old-believers’ collection that belonged to bibliophile S.Ya. Ponosov. Printed editions of the collection are now kept in the SSAR library (former SFGS library), icons and religious artefacts are in the Primorsky Picture Gallery and the V.K. Arsenyev Museum of Far East History. These organisations presented a part of Ponosov’s collection at the joint exhibition “Legend of Belovodie” (Vladivostok, February 18 — July 30, 2023). The pages of Kanover’s biography connected with the last months of life of V.K. Arsenyev, the famous traveller and explorer of the Far East, are remarkable. While working in the library of SFGS, N.A. Kanover became its last secretary, dealing with the correspondent network of the branch. Unfortunately, almost nothing is known about the last years of her life, but N.A. Kanover’s work in the field of Far Eastern library science is not forgotten.

The article compares two printed versions of the short story ‘The Power of the Devil’ [‘Vlast lukavogo’], written by the priest P. Bulgakov. The first publication of the story took place in China in 1907; the second edition was given the title ‘Greed’ [‘Zhadnost’] and printed in Europe in 1923. The later edition was thoroughly revised: technical inaccuracies were corrected, several scenes cut short, expressive means added, and more profound conclusions drawn. These changes may indicate that the revision was in part supervised by the priest’s nephew Mikhail Bulgakov, later a renowned writer. Pyotr Bulgakov taught theology at the Oriental Institute in Vladivostok, then the Japanese and Russian languages in Japan, where he served as priest for the Russian embassy; he also studied the influence of Christian philosophy on East and Southeast Asia, published papers on Japanese studies, and produced translations. The article touches on his relationship with M. Bulgakov’s family.