Historical Sciences in LBC: Tables Change Proposals

Library and Bibliographic Classification (LBC) is the national classification system of Russia. Its support and modernization in accordance with the latest requirements of scientific work is one of the priorities of the Russian State Library (RSL). The relevance of this task is determined by the wide scope of the LBC application, covering numerous groups of Russian libraries. At present, the Research Centre for LBC Development (RC LBC) of the RSL has started the preparation of the second stage of modernization of the Medium schedules, which are the basis for the whole classification. An important role in the development of the “Concept of the Second Edition of the LBC Medium Schedules” is played by the opinion of library specialists who apply the tables in practice in their daily activities in the organization of collections and catalogues. In the course of the questionnaire survey conducted by the RC LBC RSL in 2023, experts from libraries formulated proposals for improving various sections of the LBC tables. On the basis of these recommendations the main directions for further modernization of the tables, including the historical section, are outlined. In connection with the identified need to deepen the detailing of the Contemporary History sections, an analysis of literature on current events in Russian history, not yet reflected in the tables, was carried out. It is proposed to include the Russian military operation in Syria, Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s reunification with Crimea, Donbass, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. It is necessary to clarify and change some outdated formulations in the methodological guidelines, in particular, in the divisions related to the history of Ukraine. It is concluded that the creation of a new “Concept of Development of Library and Bibliographic Classification” is impossible without practitioners, whose proposals help to determine the main directions of its modification.