DIGITAL ORDER

2008 may be called the year of Azerbaijani libraries. In May 2008, the Mirza Fatali Axundov National Library turned 85. Although the country's libraries, which slid into total stagnation after the USSR broke up and Azerbaijan declared its independence, are now gradually "getting back on their feet", there is plenty to discuss on this subject. It must be said that most libraries in the country have yet to adapt to work in the new political and economic conditions and are not yet modernized in terms of new technology. The one exception is the Axundov National Library. The country's main book depository has been creating an electronic catalogue and electronic library, based on its archives, for the last five years, using an automated management system - the VTLS-Virtua programme, which was introduced by American specialists in automated library systems. Now anyone can visit the website of the Axundov library www.anl.az, view its electronic catalogue and use the search system to find any book, newspaper or magazine they are interested in. Moreover, if the full electronic version of the required publication is available on the website, the reader can order the book, reserve it for a particular time and then pick it up. This type of service, called digital (transforming the contents of books into electronic form) is being applied throughout the world today.

But not all libraries can work in this way. If reform of the national library took almost five years, we can imagine how long it will take to put all the country's12,000 libraries, both large and small, "on their feet". Today they evoke only feelings of sadness and nostalgia - they are deserted and decrepit, and many of them have not received new publications for a long time. Not only are most of the libraries not developing, they are also in decline by any criteria. In this regard, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev instructed the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to involve a wide range of scientists and specialists in the development of a concept for the improvement of library business in the country. The ministry told R+ that the Gorky central mobile fund and the Seyidzada central city children's library will be modernized first. They will be provided with up-to-date equipment and book shops. However, the main process of reform of Azerbaijani libraries is scheduled for the second half of 2008. Touching on this issue, the Minister of Culture and Tourism observed that "libraries which are unnecessary, decrepit and have no readers should seriously think about their work and will be closed down. Their potential should be released in a centrally organised manner."

Ways of reforms

Latifa Mammadova, head of the library section of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, told R+ that the work to reform the country's book depositories will be arduous. "The library system functioning in Azerbaijan includes many types of libraries. The Axundov National Library has the largest number of books."

Another important library is the scientific library of the Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences. Apart from this one, there are the libraries of various government agencies, ministries, departments, institutions of education and science, political parties and associations and non-government organizations. Penitentiary institutions also have a special network of closed libraries. "In Azerbaijan, there are libraries financed by foreign states, as well as libraries in embassies and various charity foundations. On the other hand, whole chains of libraries have ceased to function, although they used to have privileged status; for example, the chain of libraries of CPSS political education houses and cabinets, many trade union libraries and departmental libraries in the industry, transport and communications sectors have also closed down."

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has the largest chain of public libraries in the country. Thus the main thrust of the work will be in these libraries. "Libraries belonging to the higher and secondary special education sector form a special network. These include libraries belonging to universities, academies, institutes and colleges. There are a great many libraries in the general education system, including school, lyceum and gymnasium libraries. Libraries in the regions of the country and in refugee camps are not very well equipped. Their readers were deprived of their large book heritage by Armenian aggression. In most of the country's libraries today, book funds do not meet readers' interests, their books are obsolete and worn out and the old system of acquisition has collapsed, while a new one has yet to be created. As a result, knowing what sort of books there are, even if only partially, many readers often do not order the modern literature they need because they know that there isn't any, although the role of libraries in society is not shrinking, but is increasing. This is happening firstly because of the collapse of the former Soviet publishing system and a decline in prestige; secondly, because of the high cost of publishing materials and because most people cannot afford to buy them or to subscribe to periodicals; thirdly, because the books required are not on sale as the book market in the country has not developed, and fourthly, because institutions of education are not being provided with modern literature - as a result of the introduction of new educational programmes and subjects," said Mammadova. 

Automation is the future of libraries

According to Mammadova, the root of the problem is that new demands necessitate the creation of new technology for the library business. Readers have different needs now and most libraries are not in a position to meet them. The progress of library-information technology in society depends on the settlement of difficult problems. Although there is a certain level of computerization, internet and digital technology in the country, it is used, unfortunately, in quite a small number of libraries. "The only indisputable advantage of our libraries is that they are free. But it must be said that urgent measures have to be taken to reform them because some are already closing down, which implies a crisis. It is time to apply positive measures to develop the library business in Azerbaijan to meet modern standards and ensure its integration into international library systems," thinks Mammadova. "We have seen for ourselves that new approaches in the work of libraries will be accompanied by changes in theoretical ideas about their function, a shift of emphasis in management and the legal regulation of information activity."

Meanwhile, librarians themselves are also facing new demands, and it is necessary, first of all, to increase wages. A librarian should be able to work with new social groups and readers' interests - learning computer skills and foreign languages - because readers visit librarians for practical manuals. "However, our librarians are unfortunately only engaged in giving books out, while libraries in all developed countries are dominated by information services using computer technology and librarians use factual information derived from the internet. Automation is currently a weak point of Azerbaijani libraries. We know that the volume of acquired knowledge and information doubles every five years. It is difficult to find your bearings in such a flow of information. Today it is difficult to work without using new technology when storing, processing and providing information, because the automation of library procedures should be a priority for the development of libraries. A modern library should have a CD collection. On the other hand, there has been a decline in our country not only in the number of libraries and accessibility to library services, but also in the amount of information in library stocks. In fact, the interlibrary subscription system has folded and some libraries do not receive new books," Mammadova pointed out.

At the same time, many specialists in library science in Azerbaijan believe that the frequent changes of alphabet have had a negative impact on the development of the libraries in Azerbaijan. The replacement of the Arabic alphabet by Latin and then of Latin by Cyrillic inflicted serious damage on our book and library culture and on the large book collections in libraries. The changes of alphabet were accompanied by the destruction of publications with the superseded script. However, it is undeniable that, thanks to libraries, it has proved possible to preserve huge resources of information and documented knowledge for the present and future generations, reflecting the achievements of human culture and intellectual thought. Azerbaijan has been gradually switching from the Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet since 1992. Meanwhile, the libraries of modern Azerbaijan have more than 150 million printed copies published in Cyrillic. They carry huge information potential for our society, they are our national property and may serve the intellectual development of our people for a long time to come.