THE SENSE OF THE NOTIONS “INFORMATION PROVISION”, “INFORMATION MAINTENANCE”, “RESEARCH SUPPORT” AS STAGES FOR RESEARCHERS’ INFORMATION SERVICE

Abstract

The aim of the article is to make an analysis of the frequently used concepts of “information pro-vision” (IP), “information support”, and “research support”. Among the first terms in the draft of the GOST “Library and information activity one can see its key concept, but there are no the definitions of “IP”, “informational support”, “research support”, which are widely used to refer to information ser-vices for scientists. The absence of these concepts does not mean that they will no longer be used in special literature. To determine their place in the new paradigm of concepts, the definitions of “IP” proposed in 1974–2018 were collected. In the article they are systematized in the form of a table. The-se definitions show that even in the early 2000s, the domestic concept of “IP” was associated with the preparation of special publications – first bibliographic indexes, then databases, as well as the organi-zation of the remote access to full-text resources. It follows that the domestic concept of “IP” was formed in the field of bibliography. (Although it should be noted that providing copies or originals of primary sources – that is library activities – has always been the part of the IP tasks.) But then, under the influence of electronic resources and information technologies, the concept of “IP” began to be included in the activity that has always been related to librarianship. Moreover, there appeared elec-tronic resources (initially bibliographic) that provide various services. And these services are not only bibliographic (informational), but also library ones. This led in the late 1990s and early 21st century to the emergence of a new term – “information support”, which is used in several paradigms. Contextual analysis of this concept has shown that it is firstly used in a very close meaning to “IP”, retains its direction – from a library (information center) to a user, but emphasizes that a user can himself access resources and services specially provided for him via Internet (the first paradigm). The other is related to the mass media, not to the infrastructure of science. The third one is related to the organizational activities of information structures, that is, in the paradigm of modern administrative activity. A completely different picture is in the English terminology: it was supported by the examples of the use of this phrase as a term in foreign publications and by the analysis of universities library sites. It can be seen that this concept includes bibliographic and library activities, all possibilities for trans-mitting information to support a special group of users -scientists, specialists, and young researchers. This is also a good fit for a variety of activities (but not yet mastered by Russian research libraries), the work with initial research data and checking the reproducibility of research. The authors conclude that at the conceptual level, it is necessary to retain the term “information provision” to reflect the processes of providing information for research in the pre-Internet era, to provide information only for the work on research at the research stage. The term “research support” can be used conceptually to reflect preparing and providing information at any stage – from the idea cradle to publishing and research results implementation.