Russian and Central Eurasian Studies
Selected Resources for Research
I. BOOKS
Library of Congress subject headings (helpful to use as keyterms when searching):
- Former Soviet Republics
- Covers 1992 -
- Russia
- Covers the Russian Empire of the Czars - 17th century - 1917
- Russia (Federation)
- Covers 1992 - present, except for Russia (Federation) -- History -- Revolution, which covers 1917-1921
- --Foreign Relations
- --Politics and Gov't
- Soviet Union
- Covers 1917-1991
- -- Economic Policy
- -- Foreign Relations
- -- Politics and Gov't
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Library of Congress Classifications (browse library shelves in these areas):
- DK - History of the Soviet Union & Russia
- HC334 - Russia--Economic Conditions
- HX - Socialism, Communism, Anarchism
- JN 6500-6598 - Politics & government of Russia, the Soviet Union, and the Russian Federation
- JZ - International law; International relations
- PG 2900- PG3580 - Russian Literature
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Locating Books in Library Catalogs
- At Ƶ:
- At other Ohio Libraries:
- In North America, to be requested via Interlibrary Loan (ILL):
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Reference Sources
Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Web sites, and Other Good General Starting Places:
- Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
- In Russian (1950) -
- In English (1973) -
- Encyclopedia of Russian History. 4 vols. - Ref.
- Historical Dictionary of Russia - Ref.
- Encyclopedia of Contemporary Russian Culture - Ref.
- Atlas of Russian History. - Ref.
- Encyclopedia of World Cultures. 10 vols. - Ref.
- Volume 6 is on Russia, Eurasia, and China
- Statesman's Yearbook. Ref
- The Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet literature -
- Volume 10 is on East Slavic, Baltic, and Eurasian Literature
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II. WEB RESOURCES
- - "The original Russian Web directory." Browse the web in Russian or English
- - A gateway to many sites on Russia generally. Categories include Information & News; History, Religion; Society & Politics; Education; and Sites in Russia.
- - Russian-language web browser
- - a directory of web pages covering all aspects of Russian and East European life
- - The Russian Embassy provides much general information on Russia, as well as guidelines for travel to the Russian Federation. In addition, press releases and Embassy contact information can be found at this site
- -
- - Based in London
- - A CIA publication with lengthy country profiles.
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Statistical Sites
- Statistical Yearbook/Annuaire Statistique - from the United Nations
- 1951 - 1989 in Ref. Storage
- 1990 - 2002 in Ref.
- Current edition available online from the
- Monthly bulletin of statistics - from the United Nations
- Most recent month available from Current Periodicals section (shelved in alphabetical order)
- Also available online from the
- World Economic and Social Survey - from the United Nations. Main Stacks
- From the World Bank. Provides comparative economic statistics from around the world.
III. PERIODICALS
Databases for Political Science Research:
- - search for popular and scholarly articles in a variety of disciplines
- - a general interest database containing mostly popular articles
- - search for mostly scholarly articles in economics.
- - articles on literature and language--a good source for literary criticism.
- - from its inception in 1851 through 2001.
- - (1958+) covers articles written about world history from 1450 to the present. It includes abstracts for many of the articles.
- - Indexes materials in the social sciences and humanities published in the CIS and Eastern Europe. Not translated.
- - articles covering sociology.
- - Produced by the International Political Science Association. Covers the world's leading journals in political science.
- - journal articles in political science, international relations, law, and public administration and policy. Some full text.
Locating Journals:
- At Ƶ:
- Search for a journal title in Journals the Library Has to locate electronic sources or print copies
- At other Ohio academic libraries:
- (Note: you cannot usually order periodicals through OhioLINK, but you can drive to a nearby OhioLINK school to make a copy)
- Use Interlibrary Loan instead to request a copy of an article from another library.
Locating journals can be tricky, difficult, and generally exasperating. If you run into trouble, a reference librarian will be glad to assist you.
Periodicals, Newspapers, and News Services
- News from all over the former Soviet Union, in the form of news clips, magazine articles, reports, and real audio. This site also includes demographic and other basic information on the countries served by RFE and RL.
- Based in New York, "EurasiaNet provides information and analysis about political, economic, environmental and social developments in the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as in Russia, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia. The web site also offers additional features, including newsmaker interviews and book reviews."
- Formerly FBIS (Foreign Broadcast Information Service), which covers all areas of the world. Before August 1996, use FBIS: Central Eurasia (January 1992 - July 1996) or FBIS Soviet Union (January 1985-December 1991). Indexes for this are in the Older Index section of Reference; text is on microfiche.
- 20 years of full-text general, governmental & industrial news.
- Librarian's tip: Go to Guided News Search (the default search). Select News Transcripts as step one and Official Kremlin Intl News Broadcast as step two. Then enter your subject search term(s) as usual, you will get good primary sources.
- Maintained by the library at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, this site lists online newspapers from around the world. Has many full-text articles.
- News headlines and stories from the Cable News Network. Includes a fairly extensive archive of older stories.
- Witt owns 1992 to date online or in the Thomas Library periodicals collection.
- Current Digest of the Soviet Press
- Witt owns print copies 1962-1992. Shelved alphabetically in Thomas Library periodicals collection.
- Witt keeps print copies of current 30 days. Kept with .
- Problems of Communism
- Witt owns print copies from . Kept in periodicals.
- Problems of Post-Communism
- Witt owns print copies from . Current volume shelved in Current Periodicals.
- Facts on File
- Published weekly (1951-2010) Shelved at Ref. , Facts on File is issued weekly with news reprints that summarize the weeks events. The articles are usually substantial and relevant; frequently more useful than what you'll find in more popular weekly news media (Time, Newsweek, etc.)
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Criteria for Website Evaluation
- Other websites may be useful, but be sure to evaluate them carefully and ask your professors or a librarian if you have any questions!
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IV. RECOMMENDED BY RCEP FACULTY
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- Online exhibit resulting from a partnership among the Gulag Museum, the National Park Service, and the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. This exhibit tells the story of gulags through both primary documents and short essays. (Scout Report)
- Besides travel information, includes information about Russian government and culture, as well as news from Russia.
- "The Eurasia Foundation is a non-profit organization supported by the United States Agency for International Development. Incorporated in 1992, the Eurasia Foundation has made over $335 million in grants to countries in the region, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova, and Georgia. In general, the Foundation works within three broad mandate areas, including private enterprise development, public administration and policy and civil society. Ƶors...may browse by geographical region, or by looking within the "Publications" area. This area contains annual reports, news briefs, and feature reports, which include recent titles such as "Opening the Georgian Military" and "Promoting the Non-Profit Sector in the Pamirs". (Scout Report [KMG] )
V. CITING YOUR SOURCES:
- -- or find a print copy of the APSA Style Manual at Ref. .
VI. HELP
To ask a quick question or to schedule a research consultation, contact Kristen Peters. Or contact the reference desk by phone or email.
Originally compiled by Regina Entorf Updated July 2013 by Kristen Peters