---
title: "History of Geology and Mining (Information System)"
chunk: 1/2
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Geology_and_Mining_(Information_System)"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:39:24.016654+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

Information System "History of Geology and Mining" (Russian: Информационная система «История геологии и горного дела») is a scientific information system (knowledge base, bibliographic database and non-commercial website) containing biographical, bibliographical data and documents about scientists, scientific organizations, and publications related to geological and mining sciences. It is a joint project of the Geological Institute and the Library for Natural Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It represents the first attempt to systematize and provide access to a large array of data in the field of the history of geology and mining. It was created to support and facilitate scientific research in the history of science.

== History ==
The information system is a continuation of the printed publications in the series “Materials on the History of Geology in the USSR”.
Versions of the "History of Geology and Mining" information system:

Test version on the Library for Natural Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences website (2011—2015 — scirus.benran.ru/higeo.
At the Geological Institute RAS: 2015–2025 at higeo.ginras.ru. New test version at https://higeo.ru

== Description and structure ==

The system was created based on the customizable network software complex "SciRus" developed at the Library for Natural Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences (part of the Information and Library Council of the RAS). Software development by: N. Kalenov, A. Senko, and M. Yakshin.
The information system on the history of geology includes core data about scientists:

Data for scientific biographies of scientists
Organizations (academies, educational institutions, institutes, and scientific societies), geography and research directions
Printed sources (journals, newspapers, and other serial publications)
Brief scientific biographies of scientists (under development)
Major scientific works and references to them (URLs and DOIs are provided where available)
Literature about scientists and references to it (URLs are provided where available)
Documents related to scientists (questionnaires, manuscripts, event programs, correspondence, and other documents)
Links to portraits of scientists, group photographs, engravings, and other images.
The data array is centered around the scientist's profile. A large portion of the documents are still being processed or are currently in closed access: about 10,000 folders on scientists, >15,000 photographs and other images.
Internal integrated search across many parameters is the primary functionality of the Information System.

== History ==
Since 1949, Vladimir Vladimirovich Tikhomirov began collecting materials on the history of geological sciences at the Institute of Geological Sciences of the USSR Academy of Sciences (predecessor of the Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences). In 1951, he founded and headed the "Office of the History of Geological Sciences". A group of historians of science and bibliographers continued to collect and process information on the history of Earth sciences, actively began surveying geologists from across the USSR, and compiling bibliographies of scientists' works on bibliographic cards. Additionally, they collected photographs, illustrations for publications, and information about various geological scientific organizations and events (congresses, meetings, conferences, anniversaries, and other events).
In 1956, upon the formation of the Geological Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the "Office" was renamed the "Laboratory of the History of Geology", and later the "Department for the history of geology". Based on the collected material, the following began to be published: