Recent Developments in the Russian Far East: The State of Education for Librarianship

In this article, the author reports on a recent visit to the Russian Far East to lecture and consult with Russian universities interested in developing new library and information science programs, courtesy of the U. S. Department of State. It provides a brief geographical orientation to the region, background on the existing system of higher education in Russia, a case study of several universities in the region, and then adopts a social, technical, economical, political, and environmental (STEPE) analysis of the current situation. Rigorous formal education for library and information science in this region is embryonic, but most promising.