THE FIGURE OF MARIA MONTESSORI (1870–1952) IN OPEN REFERENCE ELECTRONIC EDITIONS

Abstract

Abstract. The article analyzes the reflection in open reference electronic
editions of the figure of Maria Montessori - an outstanding researcher in the field
of psychology and philosophy, pedagogy and psychiatry, a pedagogue who
developed a training program based on her own scientific research. In particular,
the content of publications about M. Montessori in electronic encyclopedias in the
Ukrainian information space and foreign encyclopedic editions to which there is
free access was considered. For this, 7 encyclopedias of a universal nature were
studied («Great Modern Encyclopedia», «Great Ukrainian Encyclopedia»,
«Trekkani Encyclopedia», «Britannica», «Brockhaus Encyclopedia»,
«Pedagogical Encyclopedia», «Great Danish Encyclopedia»), 4 dictionaries
dedicated to history, culture, notable figures («Biographical Dictionary of
Italians», «Dictionary of British Teachers», «Biographical Dictionary of
American Teachers», «DBE: Biographical Dictionary of Educators 1800‒2000»,
and the online portal of Danish directories. The creation and functioning of
electronic biographical resources in the information space is analyzed. It has been
studied that most often electronic encyclopedias and dictionaries, which are
digital analogues of printed publications, combine information from different
sources. On the basis of the research, the menu of sites was considered, the
content of reference publications was characterized: the works of M. Montessori,
hyperlinks to them, visual materials, works of researchers of her heritage.
Attention is focused on the online portal of Danish reference books, on the pages
of which are collected original full-text articles by Danish professionals and
scientists about Montessori's pedagogical development.
It was determined that the considered reference electronic publications
(encyclopedias, dictionaries) are an important component of the general
represented information in open access, reflect social events and phenomena,
record historical periods and in a concise form highlight information about Maria
Montessori, and are also a powerful basis for preserving cultural heritage of a
certain nation, in particular, the pedagogical heritage of Italian pedagogy
M. Montessori.