Russian scientists have been using FAO publications for  almost
fifty  years. The first FAO publications had been  received  in
Russia in 1947 when it was a part of the USSR. However the USSR
has  never been the member of FAO what imposed the restrictions
on the receipt of scientific information from the organization.
Unfortunately the Russian Federation of our days hasn’t entered
the FAO membership so the present situation is far from optimal
to  acquire FAO publications for Russian libraries on a regular
basis.  As  we are informed in the Ministry of Agriculture  the
Russian  Federation is going to become a member of FAO  in  the
nearest future and we hope this would improve the situation  of
the acquisition of FAO information.

In  the former USSR there was a rigid system of the centralized
acquisition  of  foreign litterature for  scientific  libraries
with. The Central Scientific Agricultural Library was the  only
one  within the agricultural institutions of the USSR which has
been  given  the right to purchase litterature  abroad  and  to
perform  the international book exchange for all the scientific
institutions of the country which were about 1350 in 1990-1991.

Therefore  CSAL was defining the policy of acquisition  of  FAO
puiblications  for  a number of decades and  provided  numerous
readers  of  all  the  regions of  the  former  USSR  with  the
publications.

It  was not the easy work to provide services to readers of all
the  country  with  great  territory in  the  circumstances  of
undeveloped  communications and the existing strict  limitation
when  every foreign publication had to be subscribed to in  one
exemplar only.

As  a  rule  we  received  FAO publications  through  the  book
exchange  in  one  exemplar.  There  were  principally   annual
publications  such  as  Animal  Health  Yearbook,  Yearbook  of
Fisheries  Statistics, Yearbook of Forest  Products  Statistics
etc.  In  what  follows  the  list  of  publications  has  been
substantially   expanded.  Some  part  of  publications   often
incomplete  came in the library as a gift from the Ministry  of
Agriculture, individual scientists and specialists. Most  often
we  gave dublicates of publications free of charge to the other
libraries  of  the  USSR.  Amongst more  than  1300  scientific
agricultural  libraries of the USSR only a  few  have  received
separate FAO publications.

Undeniably all this limited the wide use of FAO publications in
the  USSR and predetermined a great demand for the publications
in  our  library. Some readers outside Moscow had been  waiting
for one or another publication for months.

Yet by and large FAO publications found their readers. That was
favoured  by  multilateral activity of  CSAL  as  a  centre  of
agricultural bibliography of the USSR and in particular by  the
edition  of  bibliographical guides in  agriculture  where  FAO
publications were always largely presented. At the moment  CSAL
is  performing  the  same function as applied  to  the  Russian
Federation.

The  analysis of the demand for individual FAO publications  in
CSAL  carried  out  for  a  long  period  has  shown  that  the
publications  such  as   FAO  Production  Yearbook,  FAO  Trade
Yearbook,  FAO  Animal Production and Health Paper,  FAO  Plant
Protection  Bulletin, World Animal Review,  International  Rice
Commission Newsletter etc.  were in greatest demand.

As  this  takes  place the overwhelming part of the  demand  as
large as 79.0%  falls on reading rooms of CSAL and only 7.9% of
demand is through interlibrary loan.

The  analysis of categories of FAO information users shows that
the  publications are in greatest demand with scientists - over
65.0%  of  demand, then with students - 14.4%, staff member  of
agricultural  ministries and institutions  -  12.5%,  staff  of
other institutions - 8.2%.

The  analysis of goals of FAO publications use shows that 60.0%
of  publications are used to write a scientific book, paper  or
lecture, 20% - to prepare reports for the Government and 10%  -
to specify references etc.

Among  main agriculture specialists agronomists are leading  in
the  use  of FAO publications, then specialists are  listed  in
decreasing order : economists, zootechnicians, reclamationists,
engineers,  veterinarians. Fundamentally FAO  publications  are
more  or  less used by the scientists of all principal branches
of agriculture.

As  for the publications of FAO on food and processing industry
the demand for them in CSAL  was relatively low up to now. This
is due to the fact that CSAL  didn’t acquire litterature on the
subject because it wasn’t included in the acquisition profile.

In chronological terms the greatest demand for FAO publications
felt  within  1982-1987, then the demand went down  and  became
substantially  lower  in  1992-1996.  We  believe  that  it  is
connected  above  all  with  the  worsening  of  the   economic
situation  in Russia. At present the readability of  scientific
litterature is steadily decreasing in all branches of  science.
To  some extent the decrease of the demand for FAO publications
in  CSAL is determined by the fact that in consequence  of  the
disintegration  of the USSR many of the former Union  Republics
which  are  independent states now have got the opportunity  to
acquire  the  publications independently. Moreover there  isn’t
any restriction  in the Russian Federation at the moment as  to
the purchase of FAO publications.

In  the conclusion it is necessary to point out that scientific
publications of FAO are of great value to the Russian  agrarian
science,  they are in a perpetual demand with the  readers.  It
remains  to  be  sorry that because of the  difficult  economic
situation  Russian  libraries  and  information  bodies   can’t
purchase the publications in required series and number.

                       ANNEX:

FAO publications received in CSAL 1996.

    Journals

    1.  FAO Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics
    2.  FAO Plant Protection Bulletin
    3.  Food Nutrition and Agriculture
    4.  International Rice Commission Newsletter
    5.  Unasylva
    6.  World Animal Review Periodicals

    Organization of the United Nations

    1.  Animal Health Yearbook
    2.  Basic Texts of the Food and Agriculture
    3.  FAO Agriculture Series
    4.  FAO Animal Production and Health Paper
    5.  FAO Animal Production and Health Series
    6.  FAO Commodity Review and Outlook
    7.  FAO Conference. Session [Proceedings]
    8.  FAO Conference.Session Report of the Conference
    9.  FAO Development Series
    10. FAO Documentation Current Bibliography
    11. FAO Economic and Social Development Paper
    12. FAO Fertilizer Yearbook
    13. FAO Food and Nutrition Series
    14. FAO Forestry Paper
    15. FAO Plant Genetic Resources Newsletter
    16. FAO Plant Production and Protection Paper
    17. FAO Plant Production and Protection Series
    18. FAO Production Yearbook
    19. FAO Soils Bulletin
    20. FAO Trade Yearbook
    21. FAO Training Series
    22. Food aid in figures
    23. Food and Agricultural Legislation
    24. Food Outlook
    25. Irrigation and Drainage Paper
    26. Land Reform. Land Settlement and Cooperatives
    27. World Food Programme Annual Report
    28. World Soil Resources Reports
    29. Yearbook of Fishery Statistics
    30. Yearbook of Forest Products