Penza, 21 February 2016. PenzaNews. The campaign “Public Penza Encyclopedia” will begin in VK.com social network on Saturday, February 27, announced Oleg Yagov, Doctor of Historical Sciences, dean of the History, Languages and Literature Faculty of the Penza State University.

© PenzaNewsBuy the photo

According to him, the campaign will conclude on 4 February 2019, when the Penza region will celebrate the 80th anniversary of its formation.

As Oleg Yagov explained, the campaign aims to unite the people who care about the history of the region, who are invited to expand the Penza Encyclopedia by adding in new facts.

“[…] Our aim is educational – to give every man, regardless of their social status and professional skill, an opportunity to contribute to the history of their Small Motherland. Only the facts that pass the thorough scrutiny by managing editors will be featured in the print edition of the PE [the Penza Encyclopedia] by the editorial board,” he wrote on Facebook.

In early December 2015, representatives of the civil non-commercial organization “Penza Encyclopedia” and the regional branch of the Russian Historical Society addressed the governor Ivan Belozertsev with a proposal to begin the work on a new – revised and corrected – edition of the Penza Encyclopedia.

After the head of the region supported the idea, renown scientists and experts from various fields, as well as members of the editorial board that helped create the first edition, formed a project task force.

Currently, the list of completed elements of the project includes a glossary of 1,500 titles for articles, and a one-of-a-kind photo archive of over 3,000 images that were not featured in the first edition and never had been published before.

The project seeks to update the reference information on the nature, population, history, economy and culture of the Penza region, as well as on its prominent sons and daughters. The new two-tome edition of the Penza Encyclopedia aims to organize the changes in the region that took place between 1991 and 2015, and increase the information database with new scientifica facts, which will be reflected in new and reworked old encyclopedia articles alike.

The encyclopedia will retain its alphabet-sorted format, and seeks to be completed by the 80th anniversary of formation of the Penza region.