I suggest you google Barnaul. There will be plenty of information and tips. That is what I did before I traveled to Russia to meet someone. Learn all about it first. I don't know where you are traveling from but it will be a looooooooong and probably expensive trip. But it is a modern city. Beware of the ongoing conflicts and terrorism that is now spreading throughout those regions. You are close to the borders there. And chances are you will be taking a train ride somewhere. Brush up on your Russian or at least get an electronic translator. You will need it.
Ralph29 advised you to get an electronic translator. I use the ECTACO ITRAVL TL-6 , it's much more than a simple translator and I have used it to communicate with everyone from taxi drivers to bar keepers... works great for me. Beware of the cheaper ones though, you want to be able to write and translate several sentences not just a single word. I have traveled in Russia and Ukraine and would not be caught dead without it.
I don't have the experience you are looking for ... I I regret to say I haven't yet seen any part of Siberia!
You didn't tell about yourself (which country you live in, have you been to Russia before, what is your native language, do you know any Russian). We can give you better advice, if we know more about your situation!
Getting there: Barnaul airport (BAX) is served by major airlines (Aerofolot, S7 and UTair), so flying there should be pretty easy and (for Siberia, at least) not expensive. I checked dates in December, and an Aeroflot roundtrip from New York is less than $1000, not bad. Because Barnual is not a big city, there may not be many flights per day, so the times and layovers may be inconvenient (the New York trips by Aeroflot take about 24 hours). Maybe we can advise you more about getting there, if you tell us more about you.
The city: Unfortunately, I found little information. It is not a restricted area (with special travel requirements), which is good news for you. As Ralph wrote, areas near borders can have special security precautions etc. Hopefully, Barnaul is far enough from the border, and in a quiet enough region, that it is not affected.
Communication: An electronic translator can certainly be a very useful tool, especially if you are having a problem such as lost baggage! At the same time, I agree with danny that knowing a few dozen words is good enough for many typical situations. He has it correct, that most Russians don't bite, and most will be really helpful. Also, I love danny's idea of making contact with another person in town ... I wouldn't have thought of that! I would certainly bring a nice gift for this support person.
Safety: If you are new to Russia, mainly use good sense. Most visitors never have any problem (except for petty theft, or sometimes police trying to collect "fines" from them). It's best if you make contact with someone in Barnaul, who could warn you about any bad neighborhoods or other things to be careful about.
I am very experienced at finding plaices on the map that is becos I am quite interlectual. i know where my home land australia is on the map and i know all abowt russia becoz i did reed abowt it on the internet
Notice, new repeat offender that is stirring the shit again is added to the list of forum spoilers... "Fanny40!" kindly ignore his posts as rubbish.
First off I must tell all newcomers to this forum to expect a flurry of derogatory messages from the following people, Fanny40, I'm Not The W@nker ... He Is!, Smart Martin!, nasfan6, dansing, Danielle-Soloud, SOOTY, Dani, mawson and Driftwood Arts… they are the spoilers of this forum; they engage in constant arguing, bickering and posturing to benefit their inflated egos. My recommendation to you. . . ignore their posts; however they will eventually succeed to degrade the original topic into nothing more than petty quarrels and bickering between themselves.