The article is about the interim results of the personal identification of cadets of the tenth class of wartime graduates of the Pavlovsk Military School, one of the most prestigious military educational institutions of the Russian Empire. It deals with the cadets of the above school, who were born in the territories that were part of the Moscow Military District of the Russian Empire. The data on the occupied areas and the ethnic composition of the regions that were part of the Moscow Military District at the end of the 19th century are given.
The presented material demonstrates the collected biographical information and portraits of some of the named persons who have chosen the path to military service, becoming officers during the First World War. At the same time, those people turned out to be the eyewitnesses and direct participants in the landmark events of the first half of the twentieth century in the history of our country, such as revolutions, wars, emigration and repressions. The life path of some of the mentioned personalities is briefly described. The studies were carried out on the basis of the work with the funds of the federal and regional, as well as family archives. The publication serves as an example showing what questions can be answered thanks to the personal files of students in the Russian Empire. In addition, the publication is intended to help find the descendants of the people mentioned in the article, as well as to attract the attention of historians, local historians and just some concerned people who are able to provide additional information about named persons.

The article is about the new sources pertaining to Agvan Dorjiev, the leader of the Buddhist renovationist movement in Russia. Reports, summaries and other declassified OGPU documents allow studying the important aspects of his activities in the 1920s. The paper is focused on the analysis of the documents which contain a lot of valuable information about the political stance of the Buddhist priests, the nature of the relationship between them and the ordinary believers, and the daily life of the Buddhist monasteries (dazans and huruls). The study of the declassified documents makes it possible to bring to light important data about the relations between the Soviet officials and the Buddhist Sangha, and about the clashes inside the Buddhist organizations. A network of secret agents has gathered valuable information about the conflict between the renovationists and the conservatives, about the activities of A. Dorjiev and other Buddhist leaders. Those documents contain the data referring to the disputes and other methods of antireligious agitation and propaganda. Reports on the “counter-revolutionary” statements and activities of the Buddhist clergymen and believers help revealing their attitude towards the Soviet authorities’ religion policy. Also, the documents facilitate for obtaining valuable information dealing with the real meaning of the concepts that are popular in contemporary historiography – the concepts of the “religious NEP” and the “Golden Age of Buddhism” in Soviet Russia.

The article presents the previously unpublished documents about the main stages in the life of Archpriest Sergey Sakharov during the political repressions of the Soviet regime in the 1930s. The purpose of the article is to trace the major milestones in life of a normal average clergyman at the time of repressions carried out by the Soviet government. Having before one’s eyes a detailed picture of the church-state relations in the 20th century, the life of an individual clergyman has often remained outside the field of historical research. At the same time, it is precisely the investigation into the life path of a “typical” rural priest that makes it possible to fully imagine the fate of many of his compatriots who completed their “journey” at the Butovo training ground in 1937. The article provides some brief biographical information about the life of Archpriest Sergei Sakharov until 1930, but the central part of the present paper is focused on the three successive arrests. Reconstructing them on the basis of the previously unpublished documents from the State Archives of the Russian Federation, the author identifies the distinctive features of those processes, depending on the gradual swinging of the repressive pendulum, and makes an attempt to envision the fate of the thousands of affected clergy through the prism of the personality of Archpriest Sergei Andreyevich Sakharov.

The article deals with an analysis of the possibilities of implementing a project for the digital integration of information resources (state information systems) that are currently being created by the federal government departments of the Russian Federation in charge of the Archival, Library and Museum Funds. In the preamble, the author briefly describes foreign experience in implementing such projects; highlights the history of the discussion – within the Russian communities of historians, culturologists, specialists in the field of information technology and security, as well as archivists, librarians and museum workers – of the issue of creating unified archive-library-museum information resources; defines the main goals that could be achieved as a result of the formation of integrated resources. In the main part of the article, the author considers the regulatory and methodological framework of the Archival, Museum and Library spheres in the context of the creation of the sectoral state information systems. The article also deals with the changes that have occurred in the regulatory and methodological framework over the past decades – the changes that are related to the adjustment of the activities for the acquisition, recording, keeping, use and provision of access to the information connected with the «non-core» objects of historical and cultural heritage included in the collections. The author pays special attention to the analysis of methodological and technical approaches, as well as to the solution of the technological issues (standards and formats), which form the basis of the created information systems. It is concluded that the creation of integrated information resources seems unlikely under the present circumstances.

The article considers the process of accumulation, recording, keeping and use of the documentary monuments created on the Belarusian land, from ancient times to the present. It is noted that the regulatory and legal framework that existed in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the form of the “archival articles” of statutes, the Sejm resolutions and constitutions contributed to the preservation of documents, primarily of a legal nature. The magnates and gentry of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania took care of their family archives, inviting specialists who were experts in archives to organize them. With the inclusion of the Belarusian lands into the Russian Empire, the local administration was initially indifferent to the preservation of the archives of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, using them only as a means to fight political and ideological opponents. That was particularly evident in the case of the Vilna Museum of Antiquities with the attached Archaeological Commission – the museum suffered detriment as the administration considered its activities to be “polonophile”. One of the reasons for the closure of the museum and the commission in 1864 was the publication of the collections of documents that did not fit into the official historiographical paradigm. On the basis of the museum, the Vilna Public Library, loyal to the administration, was created with the Manuscripts Department, which began to be completed with the documents and materials found both on the territory of the Lithuanian and mainly Belarusian provinces, and it caused an outflow of documentary monuments from the places of their origin. The Vitebsk Scientific Archival Commission, founded in 1909, played a positive role in the collection and preservation of the documentary monuments in the region; the Commission contributed to the formation of the archives, museum and the library, which, after 1917, acquired the status of the institutions of a provincial level. With the creation in 1922 of the archival service of the republic, the formation of a network of state archives, libraries and museums, the issue of distributing archival documents and materials between them acquires particular urgency. It was discussed at the Second Meeting of Archival Workers of Belarus in December 1927, and also at the meeting of the representatives of archival, museum and library institutions in December 1929. Belarusian archivists D.I. Dovgiallo, M.V. Meleshko and others took part in the discussions on the interaction of archives, museums and libraries in collecting and keeping the archival materials. Currently, the republican museums and libraries keep about 10% of the National Archival Funds of Belarus. On April 18, 2022, the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On the Amendments to the Law ‘On Archives and Records Management in the Republic of Belarus’” was adopted, according to which the right to permanently keep the documents of the state part of the National Archival Funds of the Republic of Belarus was only granted to the state archives, while previously, along with archives, museums and libraries had the right to keep such documents. In the context of the “digital revolution” taking place in the world, the issue of interaction between archival, museum and library institutions in the preservation and use of documents and materials is of particular relevance.

The article attempts to conceptualize the place of archival institutions in Siberia in the process of the information society formation and development, the degree of their adaptation to unstable, sometimes turbulent processes in the contemporary world. The authors contemplate if the archives reflect the interests of citizens and respond to the state requests regarding the information stored in archival institutions.
The article shows the forms and methods of work used by the archives – those forms and methods that can provide an optimal contact of archival institutions with the society and its citizens. Analyzing the trends in the development of archives in Siberia, the authors claim that the role of archives is changing as they become involved in the modern information space, in the processes of creating and distributing digital information, and including archives in the e-government activities.
Speaking about the involvement of archival institutions in the perspective work on using the tools of the modern information society, the implementation of virtual, online, technological forms of work, the authors emphasize that the archives of Siberia continue to fulfill their traditional functions of the custodians of significant paper arrays of documentary information and provide services for its use.

The main purpose of the article was to present an archive as an object of cultural heritage. Since the 19th century the concept of cultural heritage protection has been taking shape in philosophy and international law, which, in addition to architectural, museum and library objects, extends to archival collections. In the late 20th century the development of digital technologies contributed to the elaboration t of a new approach, which involved not only ensuring the safety, but also the availability of cultural property for all. For the effective implementation of new approaches, the cultural heritage protection policy is being replaced by the cultural heritage management paradigm. The management of a cultural heritage site must be carried out based on a specially developed Management Plan. The main aspects of documentary heritage management are regulated by the UNESCO Memory of the World Program. The management of an archive as an object of cultural heritage is carried out through the creation of the projects aimed at promoting information on archives and archival documents in society. The activities aimed at popularization of archives in the Republic of Belarus became especially urgent in connection with the implementation of the national plan of events for the Year of Historical Memory in 2022.

The article presents the information about the documents on the history of Russia stored at the Humanities Research Center at Texas State University at Austin (USA). The Harry Ransom Center for humanitarian studies owns an extensive collection of the documents received from individuals (free of charge or on a reimbursable basis) in the form of collections, funds, scattered documents, books, art objects from across Europe and America. The archive accepts for keeping not only the documents, but also the works of fund-makers. Visitors to the archive have an opportunity to conduct research in various fields of humanitarian knowledge: from the English dramatic poetry of the 17th century to the works of modern African novelists, from the modern French musical compositions to the Italian poetry of the 13th century. The Humanities Research Center has also collected a set of documents on Russian history, literature, music, and painting.
The information on the history of Russia is contained in the diaries, letters, memoirs of Russian emigrants and American citizens. The most extensive part of the collection consists of the letters discussing the organization of political movements in the emigration environment, the issues of everyday life, the matters connected with moving from Europe to the United States. The documentary complex also includes the sketches of theatrical costumes and scenery, music score manuscripts, the photographs of the Russian artists, composers, actors who left Soviet Russia in 1918–1925. The chronological framework of the documentary complex covers the period from the First World War to the beginning of the Thaw period.

The article analyses the publication of the document collection related to the history of the foundation, development and the evolution of the Buryat-Mongol representative office in the 1920s – 1930s. The edition includes 127 documents that were found by the authors-compilers at the State Archives of the Russian Federation and the State Archives of the Buryat Republic. To date, it is the only publication that helps to fully uncover all the complex activities of the Buryat-Mongol national representative office in the first decades after the formation of the Buryat-Mongol Republic. The published historical sources made it possible to profoundly and thoroughly bring to light many issues and stories of that eventful period in the activities of the People’s Commissariat for Nationalities (Narkomnats) of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), and also in the activities of the Department for Nationalities’ Affairs of the All-Russia Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) of the RSFSR. The period under discussion was characterized by a challenging, contradictory but purposeful transition from fragmentation to centralization and the formation of national representative missions. The aim of those state bodies was a political, social economic and cultural development of different nations of the country. The published documents reveal that the representative missions were given an important function in the implementation of the state national policy, the one they successfully accomplished their job. The publication of the archival documents enabled the re-establishment of the activities of the Buryat-Mongol representative office within the context of the history of our Motherland and also made it possible to attract the attention of researchers and the wide public to the key events in its history of Russia and to the whole of the history of the Buryat Republic.