Information regarding the unique collection—a fundamental library with a manuscript repository—at the Karakalpakstan Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

 

Name of the unit: The Fundamental Library and Manuscript Repository of the Karakalpakstan Research Institute for the Humanities, under the Karakalpakstan Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Head Librarian of the Fundamental Library: Ulmeken Aimuratovna Aitymova.

Brief information about the library

The library was founded in 1931, coinciding with the establishment of the Karakalpakstan Complex Research Institute—a scientific center for the autonomous republic.

In 1937, the institute was closed, and its departments were transferred to various commissariats.

In 1938, a sector for research on language and literature was established under the People’s Commissariat of Education of the Karakalpak ASSR. In 1939, this sector served as the foundation for the newly organized Research Institute of Language and Literature under the Council of People’s Commissars of the Karakalpak ASSR, at which time a library was also established.

In 1941, with the onset of the Great Patriotic War, both the institute and the library ceased operations. In 1943, the Research Institute of Language and Literature was reopened under the Council of People’s Commissars of the Karakalpak ASSR, and the scientific library resumed its work in 1946.

In 1992, the library was granted the status of “Fundamental Library” of the Karakalpakstan Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Since January 2005, the manuscript collection of the Fundamental Library has been classified as a “Unique Object” by the Center for Science and Technology under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The collection of the Fundamental Library comprises 129,500 volumes. Since 1992, the library had received mandatory copies of books published by the “Karakalpakstan” publishing house, and from 2011, by the “Bilim” and “Ilim” publishing houses, as well as local newspapers and magazines issued in the cities and districts of the Republic of Karakalpakstan. The receipt of mandatory copies ceased in 2023, as the library was removed from the registry of institutions entitled to receive such copies that year.

Manuscript Collection

The pride of our library is its department of manuscripts and early printed books. It houses manuscripts in Arabic, Persian, and various Turkic languages, as well as texts written in the Latin script.

The collection includes works by classical authors of Eastern literature; treatises on grammar, mathematics, philosophy, and medicine; and manuscripts covering logic, jurisprudence, pedagogy, music, geography, magic, ethics, literature, linguistics, history, and religion.

Another part of the collection consists of field notes, handwritten versions of national *dastans* (epic poems)—which represent the spiritual wealth of the Karakalpak people—as well as materials from research expeditions and rare editions.

Private Collections

The library holds scholarly collections belonging to Karakalpak academics, focusing on the history and culture of our region. It has become a commendable tradition among the scientific intelligentsia to donate their personal home libraries to the institution.

Drawing on the informational resources acquired from the private libraries of prominent scholars, the library has established “Private Collections” and “Academician Collections.” At present, the library holds the book collections of 21 individuals; these are of great significance for academic research and are actively utilized by scholars. The primary goal of this work is to carefully collect, preserve, and safeguard books and manuscripts—materials amassed over a lifetime by scholars who have made significant contributions to the development of science in Karakalpakstan—while also creating broader opportunities for young researchers, who are just beginning their scientific careers, to acquire knowledge.

Core Activities of the Library

The library manages the development and preservation of its collection, regularly acquiring new literature, newspapers, and journals. It facilitates the exchange of scholarly materials with other libraries and maintains a collection of electronic resources, along with an electronic catalog.

The library provides scholars and doctoral candidates with access to international electronic resources and databases, and offers information and bibliographic services. It contributes to the national “Unified Electronic Catalog,” participates in international and domestic scientific conferences, and prepares articles on relevant topics for publication.

The library collaborates with scientific libraries, institutions, and museums within the system of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, engaging in the mutual exchange of methodological support. Ongoing efforts include updating catalogs and card indexes, ensuring the library is staffed by qualified professionals with specialized training in library science, and developing an electronic database titled “Science in Karakalpakstan: History and Development.”

Services and Operations

The library offers both traditional and online services to its patrons. If a requested publication is not available within the library’s own collection, it can be ordered from external sources and made available to the reader.to users from other libraries.

In accordance with the work plan, cultural and educational events are held, and thematic book exhibitions are organized, focusing on contemporary issues, significant dates, and anniversaries.

Within the library’s local network, 86,924 bibliographic records—covering 108,941 items—have been entered into the electronic catalog using the “KARMAT” software suite. Additionally, 12,552 bibliographic records have been exported to the corporate network of libraries within the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan system.

Dissertations, abstracts, rare editions, manuscripts, legal deposit copies, scholarly books and articles, as well as the academic works of academicians, Doctors of Sciences, and Candidates of Sciences who have worked at the institution, have been digitized.

Issues of the journals “Bulletin of the Karakalpak Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan” (1960–2026) and “Amudarya” (1958–2026) have been converted into electronic format. These full-text digital resources are linked to their corresponding bibliographic records within the “KARMAT” software suite.

Participation in ongoing projects

Since 2013, the Fundamental Library in Tashkent has been participating in the project titled “Virtual Corporate Network of the Fundamental Library and the Libraries of Research Institutes of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan.”

The project is implemented by the libraries of the research institutes of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Khorezm Ma’mun Academy, and the Fundamental Library of the Karakalpak Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The project outlines the following objectives:

• Developing a database structure—incorporating text, video, and audio materials—that adheres to international standards for bibliographic and full-text information resources.
• Equipping the libraries of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan with the necessary hardware and software.
• Organizing specialized training courses for librarians on creating electronic catalogs and digital libraries, providing modern information services to patrons, and operating within a virtual corporate network.
• Building an electronic catalog and a full-text scientific and educational database—comprising dissertations, abstracts, monographs, and scholarly articles—and integrating these resources into a “Unified Electronic Catalog.”
• Providing online access to the “Unified Electronic Catalog” and the scientific and educational database, ensuring the prompt retrieval of information from libraries via a virtual corporate network.
• Training library staff within the Academy of Sciences system on the creation and utilization of electronic databases.
• Connecting the established virtual corporate network of the Academy of Sciences libraries to the digital library of the National Library of Uzbekistan to enhance the efficiency of information retrieval and the quality of service provided to patrons.

As part of the “1,000 Books for Youth” project, electronic versions of scholarly works authored by researchers at our institution have been digitized and prepared for use.