Federal libraries in virtual space: Current state and prospects

Abstract

Abstract: The findings of monitoring virtual space of federal libraries: their websites and social media, are interpreted. The author analyzes search optimization indicators, i. e. website quality factor, website adaptiveness for mobile systems, as well as behavior indicators, e.g. average visit time, number of viewed pages per visit, etc. The comparison of these findings with prior research evidences on increasing quality of information resources under investigation. The efficiencyоf the federal libraries’ activity in VKontakte (VK), one of the most popular mass media and digital platforms, was analyzed with Socstat.ru web-analytics. The federal libraries’ VK communities are characterized by: number of subscribers, total number of posts, number of posts for a time period, average post length, and the average number of posts per day. Federal library user activity factors areal so analyzed; number of responses, average number of responses, average community engagement, and average post engagement. The author insists on the necessity of monitoring of library presence in the digital environment through web-analytics for libraries efficient integration into the single cultural information space.