Presentation of Russian Courier project took place in the Russian State Library on November 24, 1999. The service provides search for any documents in Russian public libraries, archives and databases, as well as their copying and online delivery to the customer throughout the world within 24 to 48 hours. On top of that, Russian Courier channels allows to make requests for copies of documents (entire or partial) from any library throughout the world, copies of microfilms and microfiches, bibliographic and photographic references, etc. The user makes online request via Internet, and the required text appears at his computer in two days or less.

Mikhail Kolesnikov, the director of Russian Courier, says that electronic delivery service will allow to expand the number of users of Russian State Library to infinity and thus make drastic contribution to development of science and education in Russia. "However paradoxical it may seem, in spite of vast amount of information, Russia is still suffering from information hunger," says Mr. Kolesnikov. "Our service is a kind of portal which will supply our users with information not only from Russian regional libraries but also from giants like Library of Congress of United States."

Victor Fyodorov, the director of Russian State Library, believes that Russian Courier service will make its vast resources available for millions of users. "Russian State library is the European largest library," he says. "Today its funds exceed 42 mln. volumes and are accessed by more than 5,000 visitors per day. Due to our online delivery service, our funds become available to any Internet user at any point of the world. We also drastically cut down the terms of fulfilling the requests. While previously our users had to wait for necessary documents for weeks, now they can submit a request directly from their home or office, and they will receive the document in not later than two days."

Russian Courier project is carried out in close cooperation with Intel and Hewlett-Packard.

Russian State Library is the European largest library and the second largest library in the world, with only the Library of Congress of United Stated being ahead. The unique collection of the library contains more than 42 mln. Russian and foreign documents in 247 languages. In particular, its resources include valuable collections of manuscript books of mid-XVI to XVII centuries, specialized collections of maps, music, manuscripts, literature on art, dissertations, newspapers, and other kinds of documents.

Russian State Library has partnership relations and document exchange agreements with 2,500 libraries and organizations in more than 100 countries. Every day the library serves more than 5,000 readers and fulfils more than 35,000 requests for various information services.

Source: InfoArt News Agency

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