Science as a Social Institution: the Place and Transformation of Libraries in the System of Production and Distribution of Knowledge

The study analyzes the transformation of the role of libraries in the production and dissemination of scientific knowledge in the context of digitalization, competition with digital services and a change in open science paradigms. Through the prism of philosophical and sociological concepts (STS, P. Bourdieu's theory of the scientific field, M. Castells's network society), new functions of libraries as agents of scientific communication, data curators and guarantors of research reproducibility are identified. The aim of the study is to identify compensatory mechanisms that allow libraries to maintain the status of key agents in the scientific field and to analyze their adaptation to the conditions of digital deterritorialization of science, the crisis of research reproducibility and differences in epistemic cultures in science. The paper uses a multi-level methodological framework that reveals the interdisciplinarity of the STS (Science and Technology Studies) approach, including methods of sociology of the scientific field, analysis of epistemic cultures, discourse analysis of narratives about the role of libraries. In conclusion, the results of the research are summarized, the transformation of functions is stated, that libraries have moved from passive storage to active participation in the scientific process: research data management, support for open access, ensuring the reproducibility of research. Physical spaces of libraries are transformed into digital hubs that combine virtual services and cognitive laboratories for collaboration. The role of libraries in the scientific field is significantly increasing. Libraries legitimize scientific capital through resource curation, citation and providing access to exclusive data, they remain critical agents of information verification in the conditions of digital noise.