On November 29, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Viacheslav Kyrylenko chaired a meeting on the issues of preparing a modern online reference service and at the same time a multi-volume edition of The Great Ukrainian Encyclopedia (GUE).

The meeting was attended by representatives of the State Scientific Institution Encyclopaedia Press, the State Archival Service, the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting, the Ministry of Information Policy, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Kyiv City State Administration.

Alla Kyrydon, Director of the State Scientific Institution Encyclopaedia Press, informed about the progress of the implementation the project The Great Ukrainian Encyclopedia, the problems in the preparation of a printed edition and an electronic reference resource based on the encyclopedia GUE.

The participants discussed organizational and regulatory mechanisms for resolving the issues raised, opportunities to increase funding, intensifying cooperation between the Encyclopaedia Press and the National Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, as well as considered archival digitization services aimed to create a multimedia version of the encyclopedia, to ensure information support for the project.

On the outcomes of the meeting, a corresponding protocol decision was worked out.

Background

The Great Ukrainian Encyclopedia is the first universal national encyclopedia in independent Ukraine, prepared for the edition by the State Scientific Institution Encyclopaedia Press. In 2016, the first volume of the encyclopedia was published. The work is underway simultaneously in two versions of the Encyclopedia: a printed multi-volume edition and an electronic multimedia service.