Technical bibliographic information in the Soviet Union

Abstract

The turning-point in the development of technical information in the Soviet Union was the publication of the first issues of the abstracting journal Novosti Tekhnicheskoi Literatury in 1924. Subsequently, due to the significant increase of publications of technical literature more and more current bibliographical services were introduced. One of the most important services the Tehkart card service, included at first only abstracts of foreign literature, but later extended its scope to Soviet technical literature.
Since the early thirties many retrospective bibliographies were published according to the special needs of the national economy.
During the first Five-Year Plans various libraries started to publish series of technical recommending bibliographies which were aimed at supporting the technical education of the workers. The recommending bibliographies developed later into a valuable tool serving the propagation of technical knowledge in general. The first title lists were gradually superseded by annotated bibliographies, completed with the necessary indices and with the description of the scientific, economic and social significance of the subject of the bibliography.
After the Second World War large scale documentation and information services came into being which have taken over many tasks from the traditional bibliographic activities without touching the latter's specific functions. The Soviet special librarians are continously developing the theory and the methods of bibliography and thus play a significant role in the system of scientific and technical information by improving the professional skill and the cultural level of specialists and workers.