The National State Book Chamber prepares and publishes national bibliographic indexes that ensure systematic recording of the country’s printed output, preserve national documentary heritage, and provide readers with information about books, periodicals, and other publishing products.
One of the key areas of the Book Chamber’s activity is the publication of the state bibliography—a system of bibliographic indexes reflecting printed materials published in the country, as well as publications about Kazakhstan issued abroad.
Since 1938, the monthly “Chronicle of Print” has been published, which includes:
* “Book Chronicle” (monthly);
* “Chronicle of Journal Articles” (monthly);
* “Chronicle of Newspaper Articles” (monthly);
* “Chronicle of Reviews” (once a year);
* “Visual Arts. Cartography. Musicography” (once a year), which includes:
* “Music Chronicle” (since 1955);
* “Chronicle of Visual Arts” (since 1961);
* “Chronicle of Cartography” (since 2000).
Since 2001, the Department for Receipt and Control of Legal Deposit Copies has annually published the chronicle “Periodical and Continuing Publications of the Republic of Kazakhstan,” which is a consolidated index of registered periodical and continuing publications in the country.
A special place in publishing activity is occupied by the quarterly bibliographic index “Kazakhstanica,” which introduces readers to events in the political, economic, and cultural life of the country, works by Kazakh authors, books, visual and musical publications, dissertations, abstracts, as well as publications issued in near and far abroad countries.
Since 1957, the Book Chamber has also maintained print statistics, forming key indicators necessary for analyzing the current state and further development of publishing, the book market, and the printing system in the country.