REGIONAL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

148 Pushhkinskaya St., Rostov-on-Don, Russia 344006

E-mail: cat@znb.rnd.runnet.ru

Tel. 65-43-63.

The Regional library of Rostov State University, one of the largest in Russia, is a methodological centre for 50 university libraries of the Northern Caucasus.

The library’s collection contains about 2,500,000 volumes, more than 150,000 of which are in foreign languages, 50,000 units of reference information publications such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, reference books, bibliographies.

No less than 30-50,000 new books and other editions are annually acquired by the library. The library has an active book exchange with 120 institutions of Russia, 28 foreign countries and 76 organizations from Asia, Europe, America. Through the international books exchange, the library receives more than 1,600 foreign editions annually. Since 1994 the Regional Library of Rostov State University has been receiving more than 103 top foreign journals of fundamental sciences, thanks to a Soros Foundation Grant.

The library features a Museum of the History of Books. Among its exhibits are hand -written books, ancient printed Cyrillic books, West-European books of XVI-XVIII centuries, miniature books, books published in the lifetime of Russian and foreign poets, writers and scholars.

The library’s diverse collection of books, periodicals, dissertations and their abstracts, fiction and non-fiction books, magazines and newspapers, book reviews and proceedings by the scholars of Rostov State University are registered in the system of card catalogues and card indexes as well as in a computerized bibliographical information search system, based on the MARK program. The library has access to the Internet and to e-mail.