Digital Transformation of Library Collections in Library of Natural Sciences of Russian Academy of Sciences

This article considers opportunities for the digital transformation of libraries and information centers. In particular, it addresses the safekeeping and accessibility of collections in a digital form in the context of a continuously rising number of available sources of scientific knowledge and a variety of information formats. The results of a survey of employees of research institutes served by the library are presented. These data outline the main requests for materials to be further stored in digital format. These include books, journals, patents, and conference proceedings. A model used at the Library of Natural Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences is introduced that serves as the basis for selecting sources from the library’s collections for further digitization. The issues of copyright and methods used to resolve them abroad and in Russia are noted. The study highlights the viability of continuing the digitization of collections, taking into account the verification of sources for relevance, value, demand, and usage.