The Presidential Library held a workshop and presented Kremlins of Russia project in Veliky Novgorod

The workshop “The Presidential Library in the Cultural Heritage Environment: Cooperation Between Libraries, Archives and Museums” took place on Wednesday, August 14, 2019, in Veliky Novgorod. The event was organized by the Presidential Library in cooperation with its permanent partner - the Novgorod State Museum-Reserve.

Yelena Zhabko, Information Resources Director of the Presidential Library, gave a welcome speech. “In 2019 the Presidential Library is launching a new large-scale project - Kremlins of Russia, which will involve new digital collections, virtual tours and workshops. The main idea of ​​the project is to show the role of kremlins as state, public, religious centers of Russian cities in different historical periods” – she said.

The project will require integration of resources of libraries, museums, archives, and, above all, architectural and historical museum-reserves, cultural and historical complexes, and integrated local history museums, which are located at the kremlins that have survived to the present day.

Specialists of the Presidential Library spotlighted the library’s practical experience in cooperation with archives and the museum community, presentation of archival and museum objects in modern library catalogues, web archiving and the regional network of the Presidential Library.

One of the reports was devoted to virtual tours around museum expositions as a way to preserve the cultural heritage. Specialists of the Presidential Library outlined future plans, which involve new electronic exhibition projects and presentation of digital collections, intended to give new life to museum exhibits, which are already available on the Internet. A report on web archiving ​at the Presidential Library touched upon some technical features of this process.

Representatives of the Presidential Library also held consultations with officials and leading specialists of the Novgorod Kremlin in Veliky Novgorod. They focused on cooperation in building up digital collections ahead of the bicentenary of F. M. Dostoyevsky’s birth and the 200th anniversary of the birth of N. A. Nekrasov, collections devoted to the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War and other research, educational, and publishing projects.

A presentation, which was dedicated to ‘Novgorodica’ (materials relating to Novgorod) in the Presidential Library’s electronic collections, was made as part of the workshop. Today, the library’s electronic collections comprise more than 2,000 items, which trace the history of Novgorod and Novgorod Region from the 11th century until the present time.

These are primarily archival materials from the Russian State Historical Archive and the State Archive of the Russian Federation relating to the governance in Novgorod Governorate, development of economy and trade, different aspects of public relations. Other materials include scientific monographs on the history of Novgorod region, development of writing and legislation, as well as popular publications from a series of guidebooks about the ancient city.

Visual materials consist of a variety of pre-revolutionary, Soviet-time and modern photographs and postcards with views of Novgorod and its environs, as well as maps and plans, which date from the times of the Russian Empire.

Of particular interest are documentary films (roughly 20 in all) produced by the Presidential Library jointly with the Novgorod Museum-Reserve. They highlight the significance of the ancient region in the history of the Russian state and its rich cultural heritage: church murals and decorative and applied art.

They include: Novgorod. 1150 Years in the History of the Russian State; Russian Icons in the Collection of the Novgorod Museum-Reserve; The Golden Treasury of Veliky Novgorod, Saved Frescoes of the Assumption Church in Volotovo, Saved Frescoes of the Transfiguration Church in Kovalyovo; the Graffiti series: Graffiti of the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Veliky Novgorod, Graffiti of Saint George’s Cathedral of the Yuriev Monastery, Graffiti of the Saviour Church on Nereditsa, Inscriptions and Graffiti Drawings in Churches of Veliky Novgorod.

The film Novgorod. 1150 Years in the History of the Russian State spotlights the history of Novgorod land from the 6th to the 15th centuries, the arrival of Rurik in 862, the accession of Novgorod to the Moscow state, etc.

60 documents, including 47 audio recordings of Birch Bark Manuscripts, were provided to the Presidential Library by the Novgorod Museum-Reserve, and entered its electronic collections. Today they are available at centers of remote access. 100 digitized books from the “Electronic Novgorodica” collection were donated by the Novgorod Regional Research Library.

The Presidential Library signed agreements with different organizations of Novgorod Region, such as: the Novgorod Regional Research Library in July 2013, the Biblionika in December 2016, the Government of Novgorod Region in May 2017, Mesto Valdai in June 2018, and the Novgorod State Museum-Reserve in November 2018.

There are two remote reading rooms in the region - at the Novgorod Regional Research Library and at Mesto Valdai - that provide access to the Presidential Library’s resources.

It is worth noting, that materials of the electronic collections “Novgorod Region: Pages of History” and “Photographs of the Novgorod Museum-Reserve” are freely available on the Presidential Library’s portal. The former contains statistical and cartographic materials, studies and essays of the 19th - early 20th centuries. The latter features pictures, which were taken during the production of the documentary film Novgorod. 1150 Years in the History of the Russian State and a four-part film and a video lecture Russian Icons in the Collection of the Novgorod Museum-Reserve.