Mass-circulation newspapers as integrated historical and bibliographic source and communication tool

The purpose of the article is to inform about a specific type of periodicals – mass-circulation newspapers, which are considered as a Soviet phenomenon of the press. The methodologyof research is determined by the specifics of the mass-circulation press as a complex historical source, the object of library and bibliographic press studies; as a bibliographic object, the mass-circulation press is a source of compiling the repertoire of periodicals as a segment of the retrospective national bibliography of Ukraine. The article proposes the main approaches, principles and methods of research of the mass-circula-tion press. The scientific novelty lies in the presentation of mass-circulation newspapers as an independent type of historical source, a separate object of press studies in the context of the development of communication functions of society. Today, library activities and scientific retrospective research of the press, in particular mass-circulation newspapers as one of its segments, are considered as a field of knowledge about the press, the formation of newspaper collections in libraries, development of access to fonds and their maintenance, creation of printed and electronic reference newspapers as a form of periodical media in general. Conclusions. Mass-circulation newspapers as a phenomenon of the Soviet era emerged and began to develop actively in the early 1920s, while in the 1930s established themselves as a mass type of the primary press upon formation of the main ideological loads and principles of agitation, as well as propaganda and information functions of this type of press. Further, until the 1990s, mass-circulation newspapers continued to develop within the same limits and functions, reaching their blossom in the 1960s and 1980s. Thus, the formation, development and operation of mass-circulation newspapers are inextricably linked with the history of the country, its economy, culture, and publishing business. A full-fledged historical and bibliographic study of the multi-volume press with the disclosure of its potential as a multifaceted historical source is of immediate interest.