About

About

The Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INION RAN) was established in 1969 and is the largest center for research in the social sciences and humanities. This center is well known within the Russian and world scientific community for its abstract, bibliographic and analytical reports, its Fundamental library with over 14 million books and periodicals and its automated information system for social science disciplines.

INION main functions

Departments:

Center of scientific information in the social sciences;
Center of scientific information srudies in the humanities;
Center of scientific information studies on global and regional issues;
Center of scientific information srudies in science, education and technologies;
Fundamental library;
Information technologies center;
Center of informatioin support of banking and free enterprise activities;
Center of comprehensive reaserch of the Russian emigration;
Center for advanced studies in the socail sciences and humanities;
Center of Russian studies;
Department of biobibliography of scientists;
Department for scientific cooperation and international contacts;
Department of post-graduate studies;
Publishing center;
INION RAN journal “Russia and the comtemporary world”.

INION FUNCTIONS:

Provide comprehensive information support of theoretical and applied research in the social sciences and humanities;
Coordinate information activities in the field of social sciences and humanities with the purpose to establish a common intellectual forum in Russia;
Prepare, publish and circulate scientific analytical, abstract, bibliographic and reference papers;
Automate information and library operations, create and develop automated data bases;
Procure library science stocks, information library support of Russian and foreign users;
Train new generation of scholars — postgraduate education;
Deposite scientific papers;
Information broking and retrieval;
Provide copies of scientific information materials from the Institute’s library stock.

The INION maintains and expands its contacts with foreign scientific research and library centers in various countries, including Germany, France, USA, India, and People’s Republic of China. Cooperation is maintained on a bilateral basis, as well as within the framework of international projects.

The INION main structural units are centers that are involved in research, bibliography, library activities aimed at developing the social sciences and humanities.

CENTER OF SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

The Center conducts analytical and scientific research in the field of economics, law, political science, sociology and social psychology, history.

The Center’s fundamental tasks are: analysis of urgent issues in the social sciences; comprehensive research of economic and political development of foreign countries and regions of the world; analysis of economic, social and political reforms in foreign countries, theory and history of state and law; analysis of the legal and judicial reform in Russia and international law and order; theory and experience of federalism, regional governance and self-governance; human rights; rule and democracy in Russia; parties and party systems, electoral process in Russia and abroad; political culture; specific features of contemporary historical science; reforms and revolutions in the history of Russia; ethnic and social processes in Russia and CIS, history of international conflicts; basic trends in Western and Russian sociology.

The Center publishes the abstracts journal “The Social Sciences and Humanities. Domestic and Foreign Literature” in four sequences “State and Law”, “Economics”, “Sociology”, “History”, as well as subscription periodicals on the subject “Political Science”, that is on the VAK’s list of studies (VAK means The Highest Certification Commission, the top official scientific body that rules on initial scientific dissertations awarded by lower scientific establishments); economic and social issues in Russia, and information and analytical collections and reviews.

The Center has Departments of economics, law studies, political science, sociology and social psychology, history.

CENTER OF SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION STUDIES IN THE HUMANITIES

The Center’s main field of research is analysis of issues of science in the modern humanities, information culture, interaction of the humanities intelligence and information, theory of cultural environment, semiotics, Russian culture abroad, philosophical foundations of the humanities, Western and Oriental philosophical conceptions, religion studies, ethical issues, artistic approaches in literature, theory and procedures in the studies of literature, theoretical issues in linguistics.

The Center publishes collections of scientific papers, abstract reviews, analytical reviews, research papers, manuals, such as “Culturology. Digest”, that is on the VAK‘s list of “Culturology”, “Literature Encyclopedia of Russians Abroad”, “The 20th Century of Western Literature Science”, reference books and dictionaries, edition sequences like “The Faces of Culture”, “The Book of the World”, “Culturology. The XX Century”, “The Russian Propyleaea (Thinkers)”, “Humanitas”, “The Social Sciences and Humanities. Domestic and Foreign Literature” in Philosophy, Linguistics, Literature Studies; the yearbook “The Man: the Image and Nature”, “The Journal of Literature Studies”; the science information report “Russia and the Moslem World” in Russian and English; “EON: The Almanac of Old and New Culture”.

The Center has Departments of Philosophy, Culturology, Literature Science, and Linguistics.

CENTER OF SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION STUDIES ON GLOBAL AND REGIONAL ISSUES

The Center explores and provides scientific information coverage of issues in social development of Europe, America, Asia and Africa in connection with the world trends, mainly globalization, establishing new world order, evolving structures of global and regional security, systems of international relations as the whole, current global issues, such as international terrorism and combating it, control over proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, arms reduction, migration of population, ecology, etc.

The Center publishes papers analyzing global economic trends; processes in the European integration in various fields, including economy, foreign policy and defense, social policy, institutional development of the European Union, European regionalism, transforming NATO; public consciousness and political culture; system transformation and socio-political and socio-economic developments in Central and East European countries; political systems, parties and public movements; new procedural approaches to research of development in Afro-Asian societies, patterns of socio-political and political development in African and Asian countries, including the Central Asia; current research of issues pertaining to origin and growth of Islamic movements in various countries and regions; specific features in privatization in various countries and regions; main trends in changes in educational systems.

The Center publishes a subscription periodical “Urgent problems of Europe”, included on the VAK’s list, periodicals “Global Economy”, political outlines of the world’s politicians and ideologists, “The Social Sciences and Humanities. Foreign Literature” in Oriental and African studies, as well as collections of scientific and reference papers.

The Center has Departments of Global Problems; Asia and Africa; Western Europe and America; Eastern Europe.

CENTER OF SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION STUDIES IN SCIENCE, EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGIES

The Center’s top priority is analyzing latest trends in information processing in modern society, cognitive and socio-cultural factors in science development; main stages and trends of government science and technological policies, regional programs for science and technological development of the Russian Federation and foreign countries; basic trends in higher education progress.

The Center publishes the abstract journal “The Social Sciences and Humanities. Domestic and Foreign Literature” in Science Studies, a collection of papers “Science Information Research”, as well as collections of scientific papers, reviews, abstracts and research papers.

The Center coordinates a Moscow-wide workshop on “Science Information and Russia’s Development Strategy”.

FUNDAMENTAL LIBRARY

The INION Fundamental Library on social sciences established in 1918 is well-respected across all of Russia and is the head body of the Centralized Library Network for scientific libraries of the RAN for the social sciences and humanities.

The Library has the largest collection of up-to-date literature in the social sciences and humanities in the country.

The Library has a department of scientific bibliographic information which is the leading center for bibliographic research in the social sciences and humanities in the Russian Federation. This center provides librarian support for RAN scientists and other scientific organizations, university teachers, post-graduates and graduate students.

The Library is used by tens of thousands of readers as well as scientists from some 80 countries.

The Library’s reading halls and specialized premises provide unlimited access to encyclopedias, reference books, abstract yearbooks, periodicals. Readers can order copies of scientific documents they may need. The Library’s Internet hall provides access to E-versions of domestic and foreign scientific magazines and journals.

The INION’s book depositories and its branches in the Academy’s establishments store over 14 million copies of printed matters (books, booklets, journals, author’s abstracts, microfilms, etc.) Over half of the stock is of foreign origin.

The Library keeps the fullest and, in some cases, the only in Russia collections of documents from The League of Nations, international organizations like The UNO, MOT, UNESCO, the U.S. Senate Reports as far back as 1789 and on, England (from 1803), Italy (from 1897).

The Library maintains one of Russia’s largest collections of books in Slavic languages. A large stock of bibliographic and reference books is also available. A number of journals dating back over one hundred years old are available in complete sets. The Institute arranges exhibitions of scientific domestic and foreign literature on a permanent basis.

The Library receives on a mandatory basis copies of all books, magazines and journals published in Russia. Purchases and exchange of books with foreign partners are done on a regular basis.

The Library publishes nine bibliographic directories of important literature on the social sciences and humanities, e.g. “Economics”, “Philosophy and Sociology”, “History, Archeology, Ethnology”, “Linguistics”, “Literary Studies”, “Scientific Studies”, “Science of Law and Political Science”, “Religion Studies”, “Scientific Paper Depositing”; the Library takes part in setting up the INION’s bibliographic data bases on the Internet and CDs; arranging a family of thesaurus search dictionaries.

The Library has the following departments: stock procuring, scientific works stock, classification and electronic catalogs, preparatory processing serial publications, scientific bibliographic information, library and information support; social and humanities sections at RAN institutions.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES CENTER

The Center’s main task is to provide for effective functioning of the Automated Information System in Social Sciences — AISON. The system is designed for preparing information publications, setting up databases for various mediums and comprehensive servicing public users and users of bibliographic, abstract and survey and analytical information. The Center’s main functions are: scientific analyzing new informational and library technologies; improving the Institute’s informational and computer based technologies.

The Center administers reference information support of various users in the social sciences and humanities in selective information dissemination, traditional and automated information retrieval, including remote access to databases, setting up and supporting abstract papers of the INION reference and analytical publications, as well as of reference and bibliographic stock and providing hard and electronic copies of information materials.

CENTER OF INFORMATION SUPPORT OF BANKING AND FREE ENTERPRISE ACTIVITIES

The Center was set up in 1995 under the Cooperation Agreement between the INION RAN, the Bank of Russia and the Association of the Russian Banks as a structural unit of the INION RAN.

The Center does research on issues of financial and banking industries in Russia and abroad, provides information and consulting services, analytical and abstract materials with bibliographic and full text databases.

The Center publishes a periodic analytical abstract “Banks: world’s experience”.

CENTER OF COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH OF THE RUSSIAN EMIGRATION

The Center’s basic research is in legacy of the Russian emigration and publication of a many-volume set “The Encyclopedia of the Russian Emigration”, and as well as a variety of encyclopedias and biographical reference books, collections of documents, papers and historical outlines.

The Center puts out a magazine “The Russians Abroad: History and Current Events”, and republishes rare books written by Russians abroad.

The Center sets up international conferences and round table discussions, expands cooperation with compatriots and their organizations abroad. It coordinates its activities with The International Council of the Russian Compatriots, with the appropriate Department of the Foreign Ministry of Russia and the House of Compatriots under the Office of the Moscow Government.

CENTER FOR ADVANCED STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

The Center was set up in 2008 to organize and promote research in comprehensive studies of advance fields and methods of modern social and humanitarian analysis.

This work is based upon networking of various scientific teams and researchers in Russia and other countries of the world.

The Center is involved in preparing scientific and informational publications, including the yearbook “The Method”, assorted abstract and analytical printed matter, original research papers.

CENTER OF RUSSIAN STUDIES

The Center was established in 2008 with the aim to organize and conduct research in comprehensive studies of Russia as a specific socio-economic aspect.

Research activities of the Center involve working on research and information publications, including the yearbook “Works on Russian Studies”, various kinds of abstract, analytical and original papers.

DEPARTMENT OF BIOBIBLIOGRAPHY OF SCIENTISTS

The Department’s main functions are: composing card files of works by members and corresponding members of the Academy of Sciences of the Russian Federation and information about them in accordance with the RAN’s personal list dating back to January 1, 1945 with its later extension according to each subsequent elections; arranging personal data of members and corresponding members for publication of the book series “Materials for the bibliography of scientists”.

DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENTIFIC COOPERATION AND INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS

The Department specializes in: developing and implementing promising outlines in mutually advantageous cooperation with government and public organizations; arranging and conducting conferences, round table discussions and hearings; organizational and information support of scientific procedures carried out by RAN’ partners e.g. the Moscow State University (MGU), the Russian Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation (RAGS), and RAN institutes; pre-paring materials of conferences and scientific and in-formation materials, primarily of the yearbook “Russia: Trends and Prospects of Development”, for publishing and depositing; supporting and developing information and analytical sites “Russia: Main Issues and Solutions” www.rim.inion.ru; control over implementing obligations by units in the field of international cooperation, as well as agreements and INION’s contacts with foreign information centers; coordinating foreign business trips by INION staffers; cooperating with foreign scientists in Moscow arriving in accordance with INION’s plans for international scientific collaboration and by invitations from the RAN Presidium.

DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

The INION has eight post-graduate courses in the following branches of science: economics, history, philosophy, philology, political science, cultural studies, sociology, documentary information.

A doctorate graduate course in history and political sciences was established in 2002. The INION has an arrangement that makes it possible to take exams and write dissertation papers outside the post graduate framework.

PUBLISHING CENTER

The Center has sections for scientific publications, marketing and information publication distributing, a printing house that prints annually some 200 publications with the total of some 75 thousand pages.

The Center puts out the following subscription publications: bibliographic directories, abstracts journals, scientific journals, collections of scientific papers, serial reviews on 35 subjects, “The List of Books for Exchange”, “The INION RAN Catalog of Publications with Summaries”.

The printing house is equipped with offset printing machines which make it possible to print publications with full color soft covers.

INION RAN JOURNAL “RUSSIA AND THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD”

This general knowledge journal is devoted to the following studies that are on the VAK’s list: philosophy, sociology, cultural studies, political science, and history. The journal examines important issues of Russia’s development in the 20th and 21st centuries in relation to advancement of other countries, conception of Russia as a component part of the world with its unique national authenticity. The key headings of the journal are: “Russia Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow”, “Russia and the World in the 21st century”, “Facts, Events, and People”. Unknown or little known texts by prominent scientists and politicians of the past are published under the heading “The Classic Legacy”.

The journal’s co-founders are the INION RAN and the RAN Institute for Economics. The journal is published by the INION printing house.