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Interregional Library Cooperation Centre, made a keynote on the establishment
of the Centre to Advance Multilingualism in Cyberspace.
On July 21, 2010 the NEFU and the Russian Committee of UNESCO
Information for All Programme signed an agreement on cooperation in the
support and promotion of multilingualism in cyberspace.
Special measures taken in Yakutia to preserve and develop the Yakut language
deserve attention and study. Yakutia is a unique place in the world from the
point of language preservation. It not merely develops the language of its small
titular ethnic group – this group, in its turn, works to preserve the languages of
the Northern indigenous ethnic minorities: the Evens, Evenkis, Chuckchis and
Dolgans. But in the face of all these measures, recent studies indicate a steady
decrease in Yakut as a first language among ethnic Yakut speakers.
Establishing the Centre to Advance Multilingualism in Cyberspace aims at
weakening the negative and enhancing the positive trends in this field. The
Centre’s activities should focus on assisting all institutions and organizations
that are eager and able to contribute to the maintenance and strengthening,
equipping and promoting linguistic diversity in cyberspace.
The Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO considers working
to promote multilingualism in cyberspace as one of the top priorities, linking
it to policies to support the Russian language and save it as a language of
international communication.
The project of the Centre’s development within the framework of the North-
Eastern Federal University Development Programme received approval by
Vladimir Putin, Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation.
The Centre is facing the task of preserving and promoting linguistic diversity
in cyberspace as cultural and spiritual heritage of the Republic of Sakha
(Yakutia) and the whole Russia.
The Centre’s key activities include:
• Initiating, organizing and conducting research in the field of linguistic
diversity preservation and development in cyberspace involving
NEFU staff as well as other organizations and institutions of education,
science, culture, mass media, civil society and private sector.
• Studying and promoting Russian and foreign best practices on
the preservation of linguistic diversity and its development in the
cyberspace, facilitating its development and use.
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