Abstract: Video games are becoming an increasingly popular means of entertainment, as well as learning, especially those based on historical events and personalities. However, the issue of historical accuracy and interpretation in these games remains relevant, as errors and simplifications can distort the public's perception of history. This study aims to analyze the role of historical accuracy in video games and its impact on players' understanding of history. The purpose of this study is to determine the importance of historians in the development of video games, and to assess how games approach the task of presenting historical authenticity. It also examines the potential impact of video games on education and historical interest, emphasizing the significance of accurately presenting historical facts to avoid mythologization and misrepresentation. The research employs methods such as analyzing literary sources, conducting interviews with video game developers and historians, and conducting comparative analysis between video games and historical facts. The scientific novelty of this research lies in its analysis of how video games and their historical accuracy affect the formation of collective historical memory. Unlike previous studies that mainly focused on the descriptive aspect of video games, this research aims to explore how historians can contribute to their creation by ensuring the transmission of reliable historical data and accurate interpretations. An important aspect of this study is the critical analysis of historical anachronisms and inaccuracies in popular video games. The research identifies the causes of these errors and suggests ways to improve historical accuracy in video game content. Additionally, the article addresses the commercial and cultural challenges that developers face when incorporating historical content into video games and proposes strategies to strike a balance between entertainment and education.

Keywords: mythologization, computer games, history, historical accuracy, historical informatics, historical reliability, historical authenticity, education, video games, training

Abstract: The article is dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Department of Historical Information Science of the History Faculty of Moscow State University. It provides a brief analysis of the areas of scientific work of the Department during the second decade of its existence; thus, new trends in the development of Historical Information Science are also traced – an interdisciplinary area of contemporary historical studies which dates back to the early 1990s. The origins of this area are associated with the activities of the group on the application of mathematical methods and computers in historical research, formed in the 1970s at the Department of Source Studies by its director, Academician I.D. Kovalchenko. On his initiative, in 1991 the group became the departmental laboratory of historical information science, which in 2001 received the status of a general faculty laboratory, and in 2004 was transformed into the Department of the same name. The article notes that in the 2010s the "Renaissance of quantification" took place, mainly due to the growing interest in big data technologies, artificial intelligence, machine learning, artificial neural networks, etc. In this regard, Data Science, which is considered a section of computer science related to the processing, analysis and presentation of data in digital formats, is acquiring an important role. The scientific work of the department is largely implemented in the course of research projects supported by Russian scientific funds. The article provides a brief description of these projects carried out at the department in 2014-2024. It is noted that their main goal is to increase knowledge in a particular areas of historical studies (mainly in the economic and social history of Russia), as well as in the tasks of studying and preserving (digital) historical and cultural heritage.

Keywords: research projects, cultural heritage, quantification, Data analytics, Machine learning, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Department of historical information science, historical information science, Lomonosov Moscow University

Abstract: The subject of this article is the specifics of staffing the leadership of the special camps of the NKVD/MVD, which existed on the territory of East Germany in 1945-1950. The indicators obtained as a result of the creation and processing of the database of the leadership of the special camps are analyzed. The information potential of the created database accumulating information from the studied array of documentary sources is characterized. Special attention is paid to the consideration of the following characteristics of the senior staff of special camps, reflecting the career trajectories of employees: departmental origin; previous service experience; promotion in the system of special camps; partisanship and party seniority. In addition, through the analysis of identified archival sources, general changes in the staffing of special camps and their personnel structure are considered. Based on the queries constructed to the database and the analysis of the information structured in it, the general and specific essential characteristics of the senior staff of special camps in their dynamics are revealed. The research is based on database methods and technologies closely related to the tradition of using quantitative methods in historical research. By its type, the created database is a datalogical relational model consisting of tables connected to each other. The database was created in the Microsoft Access database management system program. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the fact that for the first time, on the basis of a wide range of archival sources, using database methods and technologies, such a little-studied problem in historiography as staffing of NKVD/MVD special camps in East Germany is considered comprehensively. A relational database created as part of the study, containing information about 80 senior employees of the special camps system, made it possible to identify the principles of filling the senior staff. It is shown that the staffing was heterogeneous. Its sources were both directly the structures of the NKVD/Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, as well as the SMERSH counterintelligence units and purely army structures. It is noted that non-core personnel were actively involved due to the constant shortage of personnel in the system of special camps, which became a characteristic feature of their functioning outside the USSR, in the occupied territory.

Keywords: Stalin's repressions, archival sources, NKVD, MVD, statistical analysis, database, source analysis, SVAG, SBZ, special camps in Germany

Abstract: The article is devoted to the consideration of family and marital values of urban residents at the beginning of the XX century in dynamics. The source of the research is the materials of the Moscow "Marriage Newspaper" (1906-1918), namely, marriage announcements. The practice of introducing the materials of marriage announcements into scientific circulation is quite widespread in the social sciences and humanities. This demonstrates the great possibilities of studying on their basis the social processes associated with the transformation of family values, gender roles, stereotypes in the field of marriage, partner choice and others. However, researchers pay the most attention to modern marriage ads, or rather, the so–called dating ads. The possibilities of studying marriage declarations in historical science have not been fully disclosed, therefore, the purpose of this article is to consider family and marriage values at the beginning of the XX century based on such a source in dynamics. Based on a sample of newspaper issues, an analysis of the structure of ads was carried out and the main characteristics that the authors indicate when describing themselves and a potential partner were identified. Based on these characteristics, a database was created and statistical processing of information was carried out, which showed that when choosing a marriage partner, the greatest attention is paid to three aspects: economic, psychological and aesthetic. Consideration of the frequency of occurrence of three main aspects has shown that both the most calm and the most turbulent years in the history of Russia in the period from 1906-1917 are characterized by general trends. However, an assessment of general trends in the dynamics of the frequency of use of the three main components of ads showed a gradual decrease in the role of the economic and aesthetic component and an increase in the role of the psychological one. The analysis of separately female and separately male ads revealed gender stereotypes in the perception of the marriage model. According to the results obtained, the pages of marriage ads reflect a fairly traditional perception of marriage by both men and women, except for the fact that men, like women, were looking for mostly well-off partners.

Keywords: statistical analysis, the database, potential partner, the author of the ad, urban residents, family and marriage values, acquaintance, marriage announcement, Moscow Marriage Newspaper, periodical press

Abstract: The subject of the study is the dynamics of the main indicators characterizing the living conditions and mobility of the population of all 11 regions of the Far Eastern Federal District of the Russian Federation in the period from 2018 to 2022. The author does not say that the social and financial and economic situation of some population groups clearly determines the emotional and meaningful content of their ethnic, regional, and all-Russian identity. However, he assumes that these factors have played and continue to play a significant role in forming the attitude of citizens to their region and to the country as a whole, to regional and federal authorities, determine migration strategies of the population and so on. This prompts us to take them into account in studies of the foundations of patriotism in its various social manifestations. The study is based on the analysis of a series of statistical data published in the yearbooks "Regions of Russia: socio-economic indicators" with data for 2018-2022, based on special historical research methods (historical-genetic, historical-comparative, historical-chronological). The conducted study indicates, firstly, the continuation and strengthening of long-term negative trends in the natural and migratory movement of the population in the regions of Transbaikalia and the Far East in 2018–2022, and secondly, the lack of “outstripping” growth in real incomes of the local population compared to the all-Russian indicators, which seems necessary in the context of an accentuated economic pivot on the East. Relatively high unemployment was still observed, and the share of the population with incomes below the subsistence line was decreasing at a slow rate in some regions of the Far Eastern Federal District of the Russian Federation. It should be recognized that the changed living conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic and the complication of the geopolitical situation on the western borders of the country in 2022 probably had a significant impact on the social well-being of the population of the Transbaikal and Far Eastern regions of the Russian Federation, the attitude of citizens towards state political institutions, the actualization of regional and all-Russian identities.

Keywords: unemployment, real income, patriotism, national identity, regional identity, standard of living, migration, population, Transbaikalia, Far East of Russia

Abstract: The article is devoted to the localization of microregions of the Obonezhskaya pyatina of the Novgorod land and the fate of ancestral land holdings. The subject of the study is the historical and geographical information of scribal books. The purpose of the work is to map the land ownership of the reconstructed register of Novgorod owners of boyar origin by analyzing the history of the Novgorod secular patrimony at the last stage of its existence. The source of the reconstruction is the scribal books of the Novgorod land on the Obonezhskaya pyatina. The property of the source base under consideration is the preservation of information about the old owners – the Novgorod boyars, brought together by Ivan III. An attempt is made to summarize the results obtained in the study of two aspects of the Novgorod land – historical and genealogical and historical and geographical historiographic lines. Special attention is paid to the composition of the owners of Novgorod time in the rural periphery. The present study aims to fill in the lack of data on the owners of the municipalities surrounding Novgorod. The method of mapping the database using QGIS 3. 32. 2. consists in visualizing the attributes of points: the source of information about the boyar, his Christian affiliation, an intermediate ancestor and the surname to which the character belonged. GIS capabilities make it possible to reconstruct the distribution of boyar family possessions across the Novgorod land. The distribution of boyar volosts is uneven: landholdings on the northern and eastern coasts of Lake Onega are concentrated, and scattered on the southeastern shore. There is the least written evidence of Boyar land ownership in the churchyards located south of Lake Ladoga. The land ownership of the Prussian-carpenter boyars prevails, the plots of the titled owners of the Slavensky and Nerevsky ends are the least fractional. The Olonets churchyard was the place of concentration of the boyars' patrimony of both the three groups of Novgorod and the archbishop. The indication of the Knyazhishche parish within the boundaries of the churchyard, as well as the name of Lake Knyazheselskoye in the valley of the Belaya River, is an argument in favor of the fact that the prince once had a representative office in the microregion. The novelty of the study lies in the characterization of the composition of landowners of a significant territory, including areas of ancient settlement.

Keywords: Novgorod land, Middle Ages, prosopography, historical geography, Geoinformation data, GIS, Geoinformation system, Novgorod, Novgorod boyars, patrimony

Abstract: In the era of digital development, one of the key activities of archival institutions is the organization of remote access to archival documents. Archives are being converted into electronic form and expand the capabilities of the scientific reference apparatus, independently or jointly with partners they create electronic exhibitions, digital collections, as well as information resources dedicated to the most relevant and in-demand topics. A definite trend in the field of archival business is the development of information systems for remote access to scientific reference equipment and electronic copies of archival documents. Such archival resources are of great scientific and public importance and are of interest to researchers. The main task of the study was to identify regional information systems, describe their capabilities for searching and online access to digitized archival documents.  The research is based on a systematic approach to the study of information resources of the archival industry, the main methods are heuristic, comparative, systematization and generalization. The study consistently examined the official websites and portals of archival management bodies and state archives of the subjects of the Russian Federation, as well as regional genealogical projects created with the participation of archives. The main result of the study was a list of information systems for remote access to documents of regional state archives. Information systems were reviewed by federal districts. The leaders in the field of archival informatization can be called the Central and Northwestern Federal Districts, as well as individual regions (Tyumen, Novosibirsk Regions, Krasnoyarsk Territory). The most promising is the creation of multifunctional information systems that provide a wide range of archival services: from online work with a scientific reference device to a remote order for digitization of any archival document. The created list of remote access information systems is aimed at expanding research opportunities for searching and online work with digitized historical documents, as well as popularization of the archival heritage of the regions of the Russian Federation.

Keywords: Site, Digital Archive, Archival Information System, Digital conversion, Electronic copy, Reference copies, Archive, Remote data access, Finding aid, Federal district

Abstract: The research is devoted to the application of metaverse technologies in museum practice to create virtual multi-user excursions using the example of the Borodino Battle panorama Museum. The article discusses the possibilities of using 3D digitization of museum exhibits, which allow you to create digital copies of exhibits and integrate them into a virtual stage in which excursions take place. It also describes the development of a virtual space on the Spatial platform, which provides multi-user access to excursions through VR headsets, computers and mobile devices. Special attention is paid to the role of metaverse technologies in the museum business to popularize historical heritage, attract a new audience, and increase the accessibility of museum facilities for people with limited mobility and users from remote regions, which makes virtual tours an innovative approach in Russian museum practice.  The research uses the photogrammetry method to digitize museum objects and create digital copies of exhibits. The resulting models are processed in the software and loaded into a single scene on the Unity game engine. This scene is published on the Spatial metaverse platform, where multi-user tours are conducted on it. The novelty of the work lies in the integration of metaverse technologies for the popularization of historical heritage, which represents a new approach in the museum practice of Russia. For the first time, an interactive multi-user virtual tour of the digital copy of the museum was created, which allows visitors not only to inspect, but also to interact with museum exhibits in a 3D scene format, immersing themselves in the historical atmosphere of the 1812 era. Special attention is paid to the use of the photogrammetry method to create digital copies of exhibits and the development of a virtual space on the Spatial platform, which significantly expands access to museum objects. The article concludes that such excursions significantly increase the accessibility of museums to a wide audience, including people with limited mobility and residents of remote regions, and is also a new way of presenting historical and cultural heritage among a young audience.

Keywords: photogrammetry, multiplayer tours, museum education, virtual reality, 3D digitization, panoramic painting, panorama Borodino, digital twins, virtual museum, metaverse

Abstract: The article presents the observations of an online participant of the “Digital Humanities-2024” conference held in Washington, DC in the summer of 2024. The Digital Humanities Congress is held annually by the Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations (ADHO). Digital Humanities are usually at the intersection of computer or digital technologies and the actual agenda of the humanities. The role and importance of historical studies in the interdisciplinary field of digital humanities is growing every year. The annual ADHO DH-conference is the central event of the international DH-community and brings together scholars from all over the world, providing them with an opportunity to exchange ideas and research results, as well as promoting future collaboration. The article pays special attention to the historical issues presented at the congress. Brief statistical observations are presented. In 2024 (as in the past year), a trend towards an increase in historical papers can be seen. There is a growing interest in historical sources, historical databases and geographic information systems, issues of virtual reconstruction of the past using a wide range of digital humanities research tools. The conference theme of 2024 is “Reinvention and Responsibility,” it highlights two interconnected imperatives for the digital humanities community. Reinvention is a call to act with creativity, compassion, and intentionality to better meet the needs of our communities, while responsibility asks us to address those inequities and injustices that the global pandemic has recast in increasingly sharp relief. Explaining the essence of the congress theme, the organizers noted that recent years have forced the community to reinvent ourselves as colleagues, collaborators, and educators in ways that have had both positive and negative impacts. The theme of reinvention and responsibility encourages to reflect on these experiences, acknowledge our responsibilities towards our DH-communities, and—with those reflections—take steps.

Keywords: Tropy, Omeka, Zotero, digital history, digital research infrastructures, historical data science, ADHO, digital humanities, reinvention, responsibility