Digitalization, the pandemic, language ecology, market of information and educational services and the libraries: Drive for survival and sustainable living. The annual plenary paper presented at the Sixth World Professional Forum “Crimea–2021”

Abstract

The author starts with two key topics, i. e. digitalization and COVID-19 pandemic that makes impact on every sphere of human life and activity worldwide. The digitalization explosive development to change information, educational and library infrastructure has been not equal to expectations due to the pandemic and turned out to be different. However, the pandemic has stimulated digitization systems, Open access and open science. The author considers stable interest to ward reading, and printed books especially, to be “adigital era paradox”. He also points to stabilizing market of printed and electronic books. The no-less important topic is language ecology, or ecology of language, which cannot be interpreted exclusively as the fight for languagepurity; the author provides several examples of borrowings (Anglicisms) in the Russian language, which is increasingly evident due to digitalization. The modern digitalization facilitates targeted transition toward “the libraries of the future”, drives mainstream trends and goals on this way. The library collections, premises and working conditions during the pandemic are characterized. The pandemic also has exacerbated the problem of copyright transformation in the digital era. The author provides examples of legislative solutions in copyright in several countries and characterizes the Russia’s trends in copyright transformation in the digital world. The author concludes that, in the conditions of expanding digitalization and sustainable development, the libraries find themselves in the avant-garde as they support and effectually implement many sustainable development goals within the nation.