The task of preserving the scientific heritage and creating conditions for its effective development is considered as an integral part of the strategy for the development of national science and, more broadly, the development of national culture. The project of the electronic library "Scientific Heritage of Russia" is aimed at solving this most important task.

The electronic library "Scientific Heritage of Russia" was initiated and created by the institutions of the Russian Academy of Sciences as a public resource in order to provide Internet users with information about outstanding scientists who have contributed to the development of Russian science. The library contains biographies of scientists, digitized texts of the most significant works published by them, digital copies of related archival documents and museum items.

The sources of acquisition of the Library are library, archival, museum funds of academic organizations, reflecting the scientific heritage of Russia and Russian scientists.

With the creation of the Library, the foundation was laid for a large-scale integration project of the joint efforts of scientific organizations, libraries, museums and archives of a single digital space of scientific knowledge.