Abstract: The article is a summary of the content of the speech in the framework of the discussion of the book “Information: A Historical Companion”, which took place on the YouTube channel of the Association "History and Computer". The author analyzes the relevance of the topic of the book (the study of the history of the creation and dissemination of information in the historical past), its structure and content, the object and subject of research reflected in the articles of the authors of essay articles; chronological and territorial boundaries of the consideration of this topic; the source base and historiography that formed the basis of the articles in the collection, as well as the research methodology and factography presented in the book.As a result of the analysis, it is concluded that the authors of the articles included in the book adhere to the methodology of presentism, transferring modern ideas to the historical past, and in general, this book can be classified as a genre of "factoid historiography" based on unreliable facts or inaccurate interpretations, "convenient" for constructing the "necessary" concept of the development of the historical process for the authors of the book.

Abstract: The subject of this article is the history of the development and application of prosopography in historical research. The author proposes a periodization of the history of prosopography - a research method and an interdisciplinary direction of research (an auxiliary applied discipline). Particular attention is paid to the criteria for identifying the periods of development of prosopography and the history of the emergence of analytical (quantitative) prosopography, its source database, research methods and features of research. The source of useful materials is an extensive complex of materials collected by the author over the past 30 years. More than 5,000 publications on prosopographic studies carried out by foreign and russian historians in the period from the infection of the 19th century until now have been collected.
The main research methods used by the author in this work are the historical-comparative and historical-chronological methods, the method of analyzing historiographic sources used at different times to create and analyze information from prosopographic databases; the results of their processing, including the interpretation of income in the past development, as well as the presentation of prosopographic projects on the Internet and the use of modern information technologies. The scientific novelty of the study is carried out in the original classical periodization of prosopographic studies, combining foreign and domestic historiography of prosopography and studying it as the only premise.

Abstract: Virtual historical reconstructions being an actively developing branch of historical information science are characterized by a peculiar approach to source base formation and study. New complexes of sources used pose several methodological problems of source studies. The first one is the place of scientific and technical documents in classical classifications of source studies. The second one is the place of documents which were created electronically or digitized in source studies classifications. The third problem is the consideration of complex source studies methods (analysis and synthesis) in relation to specific features of different source types and their informational capabilities used to solve virtual historical reconstruction problems.  The author proposes original solutions to the indicated problems based on the analysis of classification schemes of source studies existing in Russian historiography as well as the basic principles of identifying the types of historical sources proposed by L.N. Pushkareva, I.D. Kovalchenko, S.O. Sсhmidt, O.M. Medushevskaya, etc. She also specifies electronic documents (both digitized and initially electronic ones) within the framework of studying the possibilities to "embed" electronic documents into existing classifications of source studies as well as formulates new approaches to the methodology of source analysis highlighting a new stage in the development of source criticism: multidisciplinary source studies.

Abstract: The article discusses historical research in the information society which is characterized by widespread digital transformation, digitalization of historical sources and historiography, increase in the number of multidisciplinary approaches, methods and techniques involved as well as the use of various computer methods to analyze and synthesize historical sources within historical studies. The author answers debated questions which are topical in the last decades of Russian historical computer science development and its coexistence with such domains as digital humanities and digital history. The main research methods are a historical-genetic method, a historical-typological and a historical-comparative method. These methods are accompanied by a problematic-chorological, a historical-descriptive and an actualization method. The research novelty is the author’s approach which analyzes the etymology and the content of terms and concepts which actively used in modern historical studies carried out in the framework of historical information science, digital humanities and digital history and historiographically considers earlier studies, articles, monographs and Internet information resources. The author sets forth her own vision of the prospects for the development of the most significant domains of historical information science as well as the expansion and improvement of its methods and techniques. 

Abstract: The article crowns a series of reviews dealing with information resources created on the basis of online archival audiovisual documents and discusses collections of film documents. The author considers electronic finding aids (catalogs) and digitized collections of documentary, artistic as well as experimental and amateur cinema stored in various fund holders: archives, libraries and museums. Emphasis was laid on activities of international organizations which are in charge of film industry and archives of audiovisual documents as well as national institutes and cinematography centers carrying out research (theoretical and methodological) and thematic (specific historical projects) studies of film documents. The main research methods are historical-genetic, historical-typological and historical-comparative ones which were accompanied by problem-chronological, historical descriptive methods and the method of actualization. The research novelty is the composition of resources described and the historiographic method of their study as well as brief summary of traditional source-study methods for studying film materials and assessing their adjustment to the electronic environment. The article specially analyses the use of electronic copies of film documents in research practice. 

Abstract: The article studies online information resources which are collections of electronic copies of historical photographic materials stored in organizations which collect, store and study historical and cultural heritage objects. Over the past 19 years the author of the article has identified and formed a collection of links to similar resources. The collected array of information allowed the author to classify and analyze the content of portals, websites, pages, blogs, etc., as well as identify new approaches to the publication and study of photographic documents presented in the digital environment. The main research methods are historical and genetic, historical and typological, historical and comparative ones. These methods of historical research were accompanied by the problem and chronological method, the historical descriptive method and the method of actualization. The research novelty is the composition of the resources described, the historiographic method of their study as well as the search for the most important (from the viewpoint of historical information science) methods and ways to digitize photo documents, their attribution, description and development of software which provides for studying electronic copies of photos as historical sources.

Abstract: The article studies photodocumentary collections stored in national archives, libraries and museums as well as electronic catalogs, thematic projects and online exhibitions created on their basis. The review analyzes more than 100 information resources from 38 countries in Europe, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The analysis criteria are the number of photo documents stored, the number of online copies, the reference aid as well as the completeness and accuracy of the information provided. The main research methods are historical and genetic, historical and typological, historical and comparative ones. These basic methods of historical research were accompanied by the problem and chronological method, the historical descriptive method and the method of actualization. The research novelty is the composition of the resources described as well as the historiographic method of their study. The author compares information resources, characterizes their representativeness, completeness of attributions and reliability of descriptions. Special emphasis is laid on identification of electronic copies of photo documents related to Russian history.

Abstract: The article is the first part reviewing audiovisual archives and presentation of their collections in the Internet. In this series of articles the author will deal only with audiovisual documentation on transparent (film) or specialized media. In case archival collections include born-digital audio recordings, photos, video films and video fragments, this will be stipulated in particular. The first article studies audio archives and collections that can be conventionally divided into several categories. The first one is musical archives containing records of folk music, classical music and popular music; radio archives. From a historical point of view, reports and interviews are of interest in these collections as they reflect history of everyday life and mentality of contemporaries of historical events. The second category is audio archives of research centers studying ethnography, anthropology, oral history, memorial (personal) history, linguistics, etc. The research methods are historical and systemic, historical and comparative, historical and typological as well as historical and descriptive methods. The study is a historiographical review of the current state of audiovisual information archives in Russia and abroad and presentation of their collections in the Internet. Finding aid, digitized collections, permanent electronic expositions and thematic online exhibitions are a small list of forms to present audiovisual information.

Abstract: This article is the final part of the review analyzing the content and functional features of information retrieval systems (IRS) (electronic catalogs, databases) of foreign archives created on the basis of the finding aid in the Internet. Each IRS is analyzed as far as the amount of information stored, adherence to international archival description standards, functionality (including extra search tools (directories) and integration of electronic copies of archival documents and information visualization methods) are concerned. The review employs historical-comparative and historical-typological methods allowing the author to compare information systems (sites, portals), identify typical and exclusive approaches and formulate general conclusions. On the basis of the analysis made, this part of the review draws conclusions in which the author emphasizes the main trends methods of the finding aid representation in the electronic environment develop, explains the features of archival description standards application for creating information retrieval archival systems and also raises the question of adequacy, completeness and reliability of archival IRS information from the viewpoint of research practice. 

Abstract: The article reviews information retrieval systems (IRS, electronic catalogs, databases) developed and submitted on the Internet by foreign archives on the basis of information from their finding aids. The author has identified and analyzed a complex of portals (sites) of archival institutions (over 200) among which special attention was paid to the study and analysis of 87 archive information retrieval systems of 68 countries in Europe, North and South America, Asia, Latin America and Australia. The review uses two classical methods of historical research: the historical-comparative method and the historical-typological method which allowed the author, on the one hand, to compare the content and functionality of archival IRS and, on the other hand, to outline their typology. The topicality of the review is the introduction of a complex of foreign archival Internet resources of reference nature into scientific discourse with the aim to expand the potential source base of national historical science by introducing new information about documents stored in foreign archives. Taking into account the variability of the Internet environment, each new publication of annotated IRS descriptions is sure to be somewhat new.

Abstract: The article is an introductory part to a series of materials which historiographically consider and describe Internet document resources and contain finding aids and electronic copies of historical and cultural heritage objects. It includes integrative information resources developed by groups of countries or institutions. These resources aimed at providing remote access to descriptions and electronic copies of historical and cultural heritage site as well as developing methodological approaches (including standards and formats for description and digitization) that were to become common. Several research methods are used in the article. The main are comparative-historical and descriptive ones. At the same time interdisciplinary methods and methods of historical information science were used.
The research novelty is the composition of resources described and the historiographic method of their study as well as the identification of methods and traditional historical sources information transformation techniques which are important for historical information science and can be further introduced into the electronic environment and employed in historical studies

Abstract: The subject of this study is the main component in the system of the scientific and reference apparatus of archives (secondary document information) - archival inventories and its containing archival descriptions of storage units. Archival inventories and archival descriptions are analyzed from the point of view of how the results of archival search (archival heuristics) conducted on their basis is representative of the body of information, in order to form a source base for specific historical studies. The author poses and consequently answers the three key questions of archival heuristics: are archival inventories uniform throughout their entire existence? What is the subject of the archival description? And what were the methods of creating the archival descriptions of the different types of storage units? The answers to these questions are key in determining the degree of "reliability" of the scientific and reference apparatus of the archives and the possibility of using it for archival search. This study used the following methods of research: historical-systematic, historical-genetic, comparative-historical, historical-typological, historical-descriptive.The main findings of the study are:- the establishment of the fact of the existence of various types and kinds of documentation (more than 200) used in the archival practice for archival inventories;- the establishment of the fact of the lack of uniformity in the view of an object's archival description;- the identification of the inadequacy of the methods for creating archival descriptions for the described objects and the purposes of using the created descriptions in research practice within the framework of archival heuristics.

Abstract: The article gives an overview of the current situation with the multispectral imaging starting from the formation of multispectral images, their registration and splitting of initial texts to further processing in order to enhance readability. It is the result of ten year development of the method as well as its practical use within interdisciplinary projects dedicated to ancient written heritage. In order to develop new research methods the inter-university Center of Images and Material Analysis in Cultural Heritage (CIMA) was founded in 2014 (http://hrsm.caa.tuwien.ac.at/). The specialists of the center together with material engineers have developed a repertoire of tools and techniques for the acquisition, processing and enhancement of multispectral images of badly preserved manuscripts.
Multispectral Imaging (MSI) is an approach to compensate for most of the shortcomings of human visual perception. The novelty of the method use within philological studies and source studies is apparent as it enhances the readability of degraded texts, reconstructs fully lost (erased from the surface of a parchment) information, analyzes writing materials – ink and devices to write and erase texts and images, studies the surface structure of the medium – parchment, etc. These are few issues to address with the help of the multispectral imaging method.

Abstract: The article studies the practice of foreign libraries and archives to regulate the readers’ use of various gadgets (digital cameras, pads, smart phones, portable scanners, etc.) to independently copy archival documents and pages from rare books. The author makes a review of the issue, classifies the approaches employed and analyzes the texts of regulatory documents. The research methodology is that of a system approach. The main methods are:
- a historical and systematic method to analyze the problems set up in regulatory documents;
- a historical and genetic method to compare the practice understudy with the legislature of other countries;
- a historical and comparative method to study different approaches proposed in the documents;
- a historical and typological method to study similar, specific and unique variants of problem solution.
The main result of the study is the conclusion about various approaches practiced to handle the problem of independent copying. At the same time, the author is the first to have classified regulatory methods employed in libraries and archives and have demonstrated preferable solutions of the problem tried out in many countries.

Abstract: The study focuses on the problems related to the publishing of electronic copies of archival documents in an electronic environment. Emphasis is laid on the adequacy, representativeness and credibility of both the electronic copy and the accompanying descriptions: archeographically deployed complete description of the original document and a description of the electronic copy as an independent object. The author considers the international experience in electronic publishing of historical document copies, the use of standards (formats) of bibliographic (MARC-based) and archival (EAD) descriptions as well as electronic image description standards (MOD, METS, FITS). To study this problem the author has employed historical-comparative, historical and typological methods providing for the analysis of pros and cons of the approaches addressed. Scientific novelty of the paper is in the problem of creation and development of a new domain of applied historical research - archeography in an electronic environment. This domain is interdisciplinary as it has to combine traditional methods and techniques of source studies, desk archeography, edition archeography, paleography, filigranology, etc. with technical methods of digitization (graphic image creation), description of electronic copies (files) and provision of their adequacy to original documents in the process of publication, storage and use.

Abstract: The subject of this research is the main element of secondary documental information derived from archives – archival inventories and related archive descriptions, as well as other forms of documentation used for archival processing (clerical documentation, routine inventory, enumeration, listing, etc.). Until recently these records were regarded exclusively as ancillary information. However, archival inventory and archive description are significant historical sources that aid the study of the history and development of Russian historiography, including specific historical themes, and introduce new bodies of original archival documentation into scientific use and present other scientific uses as well. The article applies general scientific methods of study (logical, empirical and theoretical) to this material, and also methods of historical examination, including the comparative-historical method. The study’s main conclusion consists of substantiating the possibilities and need for a systematic source study of archival inventories and archive descriptions, tracing their evolution, drawing up their typologies on the basis of studied archive forms, completeness of content and accuracy, and the applied methods of creating inventories of original archive documentation used at various stages of archival processing (starting from the 16th century).