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The online journal "Sibirskaja Zaimka" (SZ http://www.zaimka.ru) was founded in 1998 with two goals: providing quick publication of new research on the history of Siberia, and making this information easily available to those already interested in the topic as well as those new to the subject. Within a short period of time, SZ has become the most frequently visited web journal in this area. The high quality of information provided by SZ attracts visitors from many different professional and social spheres.

The successful development of such projects is usually based on several factors: the principles of organization of work with authors, the determination of the main concepts of the project, and the methods of representing information on the site.

One of the advantages of a web-based journal is the ability to provide information not only to subject matter experts but also to the general public. These types of sites initially began as documents converted to HTML and presented on the site. Furthermore, the addition of HTML capabilities to popular word processors made it easy for authors to publish their works in HTML.

SZ initially used these same methods to build its site. However, SZ realized that this method of publication was very limiting to authors as well as readers. Instead, SZ has began using dynamic organization and presentation of information on the site, based on PHP and MySQL. All of the
material in SZ was reformatted and stored in the MySQL database. Now, when users visit a particular page, that page is generated in real time based on the most up-to-date information in the database pertinent to the subject. This allows users to customize their views based on their own interests.

This new methodology allows the editor to minimize the amount of effort required to prepare the journal:

1. The author presents his research to the editor.
2. The editor proofreads the article and places it into the database.
3. When the editor deems the current issue of the journal complete, all the articles included in that journal are tagged to appear in the current online issue. He then pushes the new journal and it appears on the site as the current issue.

These same techniques apply to the authors'' profiles, the "Catalogue of Resources," etc.

Articles in the journal can be individually referenced by user-friendly URL (e.g. http://www.zaimka.ru/issue/article). This makes it easy for other publications to reference articles.

SZ is a non-commercial public project. It draws the interests not only of scientists but also those of the general public. SZ is not an academic journal; authors are not paid for their submissions.

The SZ site is visited quite frequently, averaging 100-150 hits per day. This is a direct reflection on the interest of the topic, the ease of navigation of the site, and the organization of material on the site. Furthermore, its representation in several web search engines and the advertising of SZ via web banners and mailing of press releases to science and research institutes help to raise public awareness of and generate interest in the site.

In order to develop the project, SZ represented the new program of supporting the school centers of researching of native history. SZ represents a new way of online publishing of research on the history of Siberia. Rather than using traditional static presentation of research to
academics, SZ strives to provide exciting dynamic content tailored to the individual user, whether their interest be academic or popular. Through ease of use and interesting presentation, SZ has become the most popular online publisher of its kind.