ResearchGuides: Russian and Eastern European Studies: Primary Sources

Find a database in UH network

Special libraries

The Slavonic Library - Slaavilainen kirjasto (The National Library of Finland) The Slavonic Library acquires literature, primarily related to humanities and social sciences, published in Slavic languages. Most of the collection, whose scope is approximately 450,000 volumes, has been published in Russian.
Aleksanteri Institute library

Electronic and digital libraries

Российская национальная библиотека Digital collections of the National Library of Russia, including manuscripts, archive documents, hand painted maps and rare books.
Національна бібліотека України
The National Library of Ukraine
Национальная электронная библиотека (НЭБ) The National Electronic Library (NEB) of the Russian Federation, developed by the leading Russian libraries under the auspices of the Ministry for Culture of Russia. NEB provides digitized monographs, manuscripts, dissertations, sheet music, maps, periodicals, etc.
Российская государственная библиотека Digital collections of the Russian State Library, including dissertations, early printed books, music scores collection, manuscripts, scientific literature and classics of literature.
Электронная библиотека ГПИБ России Electronic library of Russia's State Public Historical Library contains material (i.a. newspapers, journals, books, maps, portraits) on national and world history. The collection include, for example, publications on genealogy and heraldy, military history, ethnography and geography of Russia.
Bibliophika Bibliophika – open electronic library based on the digitised collections of The Russian State Public Historical Library. It includes laws of the Russian Empire, sources for Russian history, geography and ethnography, books on genealogy, heraldry, and cultural history.
Руниверс A digital library that offers free access to digitized books, documents, maps, photos etc. The focus is in history and in the works of Russian philosophers.
Электронные публикации Института русской литературы (Пушкинского Дома) РАН Electronic library of the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House). Electronic publications of serials, collected texts, reference and bibliography for academic philology as well as cultural and historic studying.
Ruthenia Ruthenia is an online-project by a Russian publisher ОГИ and the department of Russian literature in the University of Tartu. The website includes, for example, electronic versions of classic works in Russian studies, bibliographies, reference books, dissertations and serial publications of department of Russian literature in the University of Tartu.
Фундаментальная электронная библиотека - Русская литература и фольклор Fundamental Digital Library of Russian Literature and Folklore. Each DSE combines an exhaustive collection of primary texts with all the essential secondary literature and bibliographical works you need to do research on a given author, genre, or work.
Электронная библиотека «Научное наследие России» Digital Library "Scientific Heritage of Russia" with topical search for a variety of humanities. Scientific works from the 19th century to the present.
Polona / The National Library of Poland Digital collections of the National Library of Poland, including the most important editions of literature and scientific materials, historical documents, journals, graphics, photography, score and maps.
The Edward Blank YIVO Vilna Online Collections YIVO’s “Vilna Collections” include all of YIVO’s prewar documents and books that survived the war, as well as rare books from the famed Strashun Library of Vilna. The materials in these collections represent Jewish life throughout Europe, including Eastern Europe, Central and Western Europe, and the Americas. The time frame runs from the seventeenth century to 1940, with the bulk of materials dating from the years between the two world wars. They are among the few prewar Jewish collections to have survived the Holocaust. As historian Jack Jacobs notes, “It is simply impossible to write a dissertation or do any serious research project related to Eastern European Jewry without consulting the YIVO materials.”
Česká digitální knihovna National aggregator of digital libraries - Czech Digital Library allows to search documents contained in digital libraries operated by individual libraries in the Czech Republic.
Digitalizirana zbirka JU Biblioteka Sarajeva Collection of old and rare books, periodic publications, documents and other manuscripts about Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Digitalne zbirke Nacionalne i sveučilišne knjižnice u Zagrebu Digital collections of the National and University Library in Zagreb
Nacionalna biblioteka Crne Gore “Đurđe Crnojević” – Digitalna biblioteka The Digital Library of Montenegro is a project of the National Library of Montenegro “Đurđe Crnojević“ thanks to which the most valuable copies of library materials from the collections of the National Library were digitized and presented and in which old and rare books, manuscripts, documents, newspapers, magazines, maps, posters and art, music and videomaterial are being preserved.
Digitalna Narodna biblioteka Srbije (Digitalna NBS) The best of the National Library of Serbia in digital format.

The National Library of Finland: digitized books and periodicals in Russian

Materials that have been published until 1939 are openly available. You can access newer materials in six Finnish legal deposit libraries.

Issues of Mir Iskusstva that contain texts or photos of art from Finland and other Nordic countries (1899-1904).

Databases for Russian and Eastern European Studies (in UH network)

Bibliography of the History and Archaeology of Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages The Bibliography of the History and Archaeology of Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages covers literature pertaining to a vast geographical area which has been influenced by Scandinavia, Western Europe, Eurasia and Byzantium. The bibliography currently contains more than 75,000 records, with approximately 1,000–2,000 new records added each year. The cited works have been published from the end of the 18th century to the present, in 25 languages. The search capabilities include full text search, keyword search, author search and title search.
CyberLeninka CyberLeninka - open science repository- contains Russian OA scientific journals. Journals included in the list approved by Higher Attestation Commission and/or in Scopus are marked with color codes.
Digital Dissertations Library of RSL Digital Dissertations Library of the Russian State Library is a unique repository of originals of dissertations on all the subjects and specializations except Medicine and Pharmacy, beginning with 1944. For open access dissertations, use ”Искать только в Открытой электронной библиотеке диссертации (ОЭБД)” in advanced search.
Early Russian Cinema Online This collection includes digitised cinematographic periodicals (57 journals) published in the Russian Empire at the 1900s and 1910s. The collection includes sophisticated, bimonthly periodicals as well as more popular weeklies released by the major Russian film studios. These journals contain interviews, detailed description of pictures, reviews by critics, censored materials, etc. They contain also information about other forms of contemporary entertainment culture.
eLIBRARY.RU This Russian portal provides a wide range of Russian scientific journals. Free full text availability for many articles, some journals have only tables of contents and abstracts. Portal can be used for browsing of bibliographic references; if the desired journal issue is not available electronically, check for a print copy in the library catalog.
Encyclopedia of Slavic Languages and Linguistics Online The articles in the Encyclopedia of Slavic Languages and Linguistics examine the development of Slavic languages and their interaction with other languages. The recently published work is as yet unfinished: it will grow by one hundred articles a year between 2020 and 2023, ultimately comprising about 400 articles in all once it has been completed.
European bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies (EBSEES) Lists books, journal articles, reviews and theses on Eastern Europe, formerly Communist countries, published between 1991 and 1996 in the UK, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland and Switzerland. It includes documents from all these countries, whether published in that country's language or in the languages of the countries studied. This includes national minorities and émigré publications.
Gazeta Wyborcza A daily Polish newspaper with several sections. You can access the latest issue (PDF) under ‘Dzisiejsza gazeta (e-wydanie)’. Articles in previous issues can be found from the archive using full-text search: Click on ‘Archiwum’ on the ‘Wiecej’ tab. The archive contains all articles as of 8 May 1989, the first date of publication.
INION Russian bibliographic databases in the field of social sciences and humanities. Subject areas: economics, demography, philosophy, literary criticism, sociology, history, archeology, political science, lingustics, oriental studies, atheism, ethnology, law.
Integrum Profi Integrum, is a large electronic collection of Russian and CIS mass media. Integrum databases cover newspapers, magazines, teletypes of information agencies, analytical and statistical bulletins, texts of laws and decrees etc.
Iskusstvo kino (1931–) Iskusstvo kino, established in 1931, is the leading journal of Russian, and formerly Soviet, cinema. Iskusstvo kino includes critical reviews of both domestic and foreign film, as well as scholarly articles on cinematic theory and history as well as the Russian culture and arts scene. The journal was first published under the title Proletarskoe kino (1931–1932), then Sovetskoe kino (1932–1935) and under the present title since 1936.
Izvestia Digital Archive (1917–2010) The Izvestiia Digital Archive contains the complete archive of Izvestiia newspaper from 1917 to 2010 in full-image and searchable text. During the Soviet period was the official organ of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The issues published after 2010 are available in Integrum Profi.
Letopis' zurnalnyh statej Letopis' Zhurnal'nykh Statei is a keyword searchable database of the digitized serial publication that indexes Soviet-era periodicals from 1956 to 1975.
Literaturnaia Gazeta Digital Archive (1929–2011) Literaturnaia Gazeta Digital Archive is a complete online archive from the first issue in 1929 to date in full-image and searchable text. Literaturnaia gazeta focuses on literary and intellectual life. In Soviet Russia, the newspaper was a particular podium for publishing new literature and literary commentary, and it remains popular in today’s Russia.
Literaturnaia Gazeta Digital Archive (2012–) Literaturnaia Gazeta Digital Archive is a complete online archive from the first issue in 1929 to date in full-image and searchable text. Literaturnaia gazeta focuses on literary and intellectual life. In Soviet Russia, the newspaper was a particular podium for publishing new literature and literary commentary, and it remains popular in today’s Russia.
Muslims in Russia Online This collection of digitized periodicals introduces the Russian Muslim population during one of the most dynamic periods of their history (1861-1918). Materials published in Russia both at the center and on the periphery reflect the picturesque palette of life of Muslims in the Russian Empire, as well as the positions of their public and political figures. This collection presents works written by and about Muslims.
Novoe russkoe slovo Digital Archive (1917–1920, 1925–2009) Novoe russkoe slovo digital archive contains full text documents of the newspaper from 1917 to 2009. Novoe russkoe slovo was the leading newspaper for Russian-speaking émigrés in the United States. Published in New York, the newspaper supported a Communist ideology for its first decade of publication. In the 1920s, it realigned itself, becoming a respected émigré newspaper with a broad readership.
Ogonek Digital Archive (1923–2017) The Ogonek Digital Archive̕ s 230,000 articles and 440,000 photographs will serve as a virtual timeline tracing the Soviet era into the Great War, the Cold War, perestroika/glasnost, and today. Amid strife, Ogonek strived for intellectual ideals through lively commentary, criticism, and satire, becoming a forum for Russian cultural thought and political discourse. The issues published after 2017 are available in Integrum Profi.
Polnoe sobranie zakonov rossijskoj imperii The Polnoe Sobranie Zakonov Rossijskoj Imperii contains in chronological order the texts of more than 31,600 legislative enactments in Russia from 1649 to 1913.
Pravda Digital Archive (1912–) Pravda digital archive contains full text documents of the newspaper from 1912 to date. The full text of all articles can be searched via basic and advanced search. Pravda is the official organ of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, founded in 1912 in St. Petersburg. It was the main newspaper of the Russian and Soviet socialist movement.
Putevoditeli po Rossijskim arhivam This database contains guidebooks to the Russian archives published in 1987–2008.
Russian AvantGarde Online This collection represents works of all Russian literary avant-garde schools. It comprises almost 800 books, periodicals and almanacs most of them published between 1910-1940 and thus offers varied and well-balanced overview of one of the most versatile movements in Russian literature.
Secret Files from World Wars to Cold War Secret Files from World Wars to Cold War provides access to British government secret intelligence and foreign policy files from 1873 to 1953. Sourced from The National Archives, U.K., the range of documents – from signals intelligence reports to government-directed policy and strategy – will support teaching and research from the period of Appeasement right through to the early Cold War.
Socionet Socionet is a Russian portal to economics and social sciences. Socionet has been developed independently in Russia within frameworks of the international projects RePEc and Open Archives Initiative. The types of resources vary from archives of electronic publications to contents of online journals, library catalogues of new acquisitions, catalogues of publishing houses etc.
UIS-Russia UIS RUSSIA serves as a collective thematic resource in social and political sciences. The UIS RUSSIA maintains basic collections of social domain data and documents - RF state agencies publications (laws, presidential decrees, government regulations), international agreements of RF, daily records of parliament's plenary sessions, state statistics, election data, analytical reports of government agencies and independent think tanks, academic publications, mass media, public opinion polls data, international organizations data, etc.
UTREES - University Theses in Russian, Soviet, and East European Studies (1907–) A bibliographical database listing details of over 5,600 doctoral and selected masters’ theses from British and Irish universities. Compiled and edited by Gregory Walker and J. S. G. Simmons.
Vestnik Evropy (1802–1830) One of the first Russian literary and political journal. Together with literature and arts the journal enlightened its readers on problems of internal and foreign policy of Russia, history and political life of foreign countries. It became conservative since 1815.
Voprosy istorii (1926–) The oldest Soviet and Russian academic history journal, Voprosy istorii (“Issues of History”) has offered scholarly perspectives on events in Russia and the world since 1926. Published by the Russian Academy of Sciences, this legendary journal covering Russian and world history was first published under the title Istorik-Marksist (Marxist Historian, 1926-1941), then Istoricheskii zhurnal (History Journal, 1937-1945) and finally under the present title (since 1945).
Voprosy literatury (1957–) Authoritative journal of literary criticism offering articles and roundtable transcripts dealing with problems of Russian and world literature, history and theory of literature.

Digital newspapers

Digital archives of Russian newspapers (in UH network)

Integrum

Integrum is a large electronic collection of Russian and CIS mass media. Integrum databases cover newspapers, magazines, teletypes of information agencies, analytical and statistical bulletins, texts of laws and decrees etc.

Integrum
Text mining on the Integrum resources
My Integrum – a personalised media monitoring service My Integrum can be accessed until 31 December 2021.

Subscribing organisations: Tampere University, University of Eastern Finland, University of Helsinki, University of Jyväskylä, University of Turku, Åbo Akademi

Digital archives of newspapers (in open access)

Газеты периода Первой Мировой и Гражданской войн 1914-1922 Digital archive of newspapers published in Russia during the First World War and the Russian Civil War (1914-1922). The archive is important source for historians as it reflects the everyday life in different regions during the wars. You can search publications based on the title, year or place of publication. At the first stage, the collection includes over 200 newspaper publications from different regions in Russia. The archive is in the making and constantly updated.

Printed newspapers

The collection of newspapers in the Slavonic Library

The collection of primary sources in the Slavonic library includes newspapers published in Imperial Russia, Soviet Union, Russian Federation and Eastern Europe. The Legal Deposit Collection from 1828–1917 contains a collection of newspapers published in the big cities within the borders of the Russian Empire. From the Soviet period, the collections include the main newspapers of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and also the emigrant newspapers. The newspapers published in the Russian Federation and the CIS countries can be found in digital form in the Integrum database.

Linguistic Resources

Национальный корпус русского языка (Russian National Corpus) The Russian National Corpus contains original texts of Russian standard language from 18th century, as well as translated texts and non-standard language texts such as spoken language and dialectal language texts. The corpus includes over 335 000 texts and 600 million word forms.
Český národní korpus (The Czech National Corpus) The Czech National Corpus includes i.a. written contemporary Czech, spoken language, translated texts and diachronic corpus of historical texts.
Narodowy Korpus Języka Polskiego (The National Corpus of Polish) The National Corpus of Polish contains over 1,5 million words. The corpus includes texts such as classic literature, daily newspapers, periodicals and journals, transcripts of conversations, and internet texts.
Corpus Cyrillo-Methodianum Helsingiense An electronic corpus of Old Church Slavonic Texts.

Russian open data

Data.gov.ru – Open data portal of the Russian Federation
Хаб открытых данных
re3data.org – Registry of Research Data Repositories

Open data from Eastern Europe

Dane.gov.pl – Open data portal of the Republic of Poland
Data.egov.bg – Open data portal of the Republic of Bulgaria
Data.gov.hr – Open data portal of the Republic of Croatia
Data.gov.mk – Open data portal of the Republic of North Macedonia
Data.gov.rs – Open data portal of the Republic of Serbia
Data.gov.sk – Open data portal of the Slovak Republic
Data.gov.ua – Open data portal of Ukraine
Data.gov.cz – Open data portal of the Czech Republic
Podatki.gov.si – Open data portal of the Republic of Slovenia
Radio Free Europe / Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives (OSA)
re3data.org – Registry of Research Data Repositories

Legal sources: Russian Federation

Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации На "Официальном интернет-портале правовой информации" размещаются (опубликовываются): - федеральные конституционные законы, - федеральные законы, - акты палат Федерального Собрания, принятые по вопросам, отнесенным к ведению палат частью 1 статьи 102 и частью 1 статьи 103 Конституции Российской Федерации, - указы и распоряжения Президента Российской Федерации, - международные договоры, вступившие в силу для Российской Федерации, и международные договоры, которые временно применяются Российской Федерацией (за исключением договоров межведомственного характера), - постановления Конституционного Суда Российской Федерации, определения Конституционного Суда Российской Федерации о разъяснении постановлений Конституционного Суда Российской Федерации, а также иные решения Конституционного Суда Российской Федерации, которыми предусмотрен такой порядок размещения (опубликования), - постановления и распоряжения Правительства Российской Федерации, - нормативные правовые акты федеральных органов исполнительной власти, зарегистрированные Министерством юстиции Российской Федерации, - законы и иные правовые акты субъектов Российской Федерации.
Tietoa Venäjän federaation oikeudellisista tiedonlähteistä (in Finnish) Lähde: Suomen eduskunnan kirjasto

Russian and Eastern European Studies: Primary Sources

Primary Sources: About the section