On February 12, a national videoconference, Together for the Family Internet: The Role and Capabilities of Libraries, was held at the Russian State Children’s Library. The organizer of the conference was the Center for Sociology, Psychology and Pedagogy of Children’s Reading of the Russian State Children’s Library. Over 1,000 participants from 72 regions joined the conference via video broadcast, and another 60 participants were present in the hall.
First Deputy Director of the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ Vladimir Gorzhaltsan spoke at the plenary session and presented the results of the international study Internet Development Trends in Russia and Abroad (https://cctld.ru/upload/iblock/e06/trends_2019.pdf). Vladimir Gorzhaltsan noted that the internet is becoming a universal environment for the public, business and government to interact. According to the International Telecommunication Union, every second person used the internet in 2018. In Russia, more than two-thirds of the population use the internet daily, and these figures are growing. More than half of Russians use social networks when accessing the internet, and according to this figure, Russia is among the 15 leading countries. Moreover, as the study showed, 40% of Russian internet users go online to obtain knowledge. Vladimir Gorzhaltsan also talked about how the internet is used in Russian educational and cultural institutions. In particular, more than 67% of Russian libraries today offer their readers internet access.
Viktoria Bunchuk, the manager of social projects at the Coordination Center, told the videoconference participants about the center’s social education projects, Learn the Internet, Manage It! and the domain .ДЕТИ, and presented the guide 12 Internet Security Rules, published by the Coordination Center for young people. In addition, Bunchuk showed a preview of the film Internet for All, produced by the Social Cinema Foundation for the Coordination Center to mark the 25th anniversary of the .RU domain, and invited everyone to watch the full version of the film. The screening will be held at the Russian State Children’s Library at 3 pm on February 16.
The national videoconference Together for the Family Internet: The Role and Capabilities of Libraries was part of Safe Internet Week, which is taking place for the 13th time in Russia, this year from February 11 to 19. All the week’s events are related to internet safety and using technologies ethically for the benefit of mankind, as well as maximizing opportunities and minimizing risks when using internet technologies.
