The Information Centre plays a broad spectrum of roles. It functions simultaneously as an analytical centre, a reference library, a depository of electronic information-carrying mediums and Internet centre.

The hall of reference materials offers more than 10 thousand items informational in character: encyclopedias, reference-books, dictionaries, bibliographical indexes and periodicals.

Users are welcome to work on the Internet in the Internet centre that is open daily.

The unique card index "Translations of foreign authors into the Russian language" created in the Information centre is constantly supplemented. The index comprises more than 200 thousand items.

Electronic databases (some of them are full-text) are created on the basis of the card indexes.

Visitors of the Information centre can use the information system "World Biographical Archives" on microfiches that contain information about famous people since antiquity till our time. Readers can also use the CD-ROM collection that is constantly enlarged.

The UNESCO Information Centre was set up in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO and the UNESCO Moscow office at the end of 1999. One of the basic elements of its structure is a collection of UNESCO publications which comprises about 2000 items (books, magazines, brochures) in Russian and foreign languages on the major directions of UNESCO activities. The UNESCO Information Centre web site created on the server of the VGBIL is one more important source of information about the work of this social institution. Special trainings and consultations are held in order to provide visitors with information on various UNESCO resources and their usage.

The centre of distant education "The Sound encyclopedia" provides free access to the audio archives of educational materials in the most eminent universities of France. It is popular with both learners and teachers of French. "The Sound Encyclopedia" is available through the medium of the Internet and comprises lectures, discussions and debates in French on various topics like literature, theatre, history, geography etc.