Report from the visit of CSAL Moscow, Jan Herha

IAALD NEWS
Central and Eastern Europe

Report from the visit of CSAL Moscow Jan Herha, Administrator of the Citizen Association NitraNet

    On 20-27 October 1997, Michal Demes and Jan Herha visited the Central Scientific Agricultural Library as well as the Library of the Moscow Agricultural Academy named after K.A. Timiriazev in Moscow, Russian Federation.
    The visit programme aimed to integrate the agricultural libraries network on the territory of the Russian Federation into the world-wide IAALD network, to help in the organisation of the administrative and organisational centre for Russian Federation IAALD Rossia, and to present the aims, methods and techniques of integration into the global agricultural information system.
    We are preparing for the next IAALD News issue an article on the professional results of our stay. But now I would like to inform you briefly about matters especially interesting for horse lovers.
    Part of Moscow Agricultural Academy is a Museum devoted to horse breeding. The director and the soul of the museum for many years has been David Jakovlevich Guriewitsh. Although the museum was already founded before 1917, in 1940 it was transferred to the Moscow Agricultural Academy and thus became an inseparable part of the Department of Horse Breeding. The Museum prepares highly qualified specialists in horse breeding.
    Today it has more than 3 000 pictures, drawings and applied arts, an enormous photo collection of over 5 000 negatives, and excessively rich thematic collections of stamps, postal cars, envelopes, badges, and various souvenirs which help to restore the history and reflect the contemporary state of horse breeding in the Russian Federation. The highly qualified, enthusiastic and deeply human speech of the director David Jakovlevich Guriewitsh would raise the interest also of any non-specialist.
    Although we had a very full stay at Moscow and had no free time, we did have a look into a wonderful side of Russian history and present.
    If your business leads you to Moscow you will never regret visiting this museum. Naturally the director, David Jakovlevich, and his co-workers will be happy to welcome you.