4/13/2018

National Archives of Estonia Databases


Like their peers in the other Baltic States, Estonia has made tremendous efforts in terms of digitization. One of the most robust and accessible projects in Estonia is the Archival Information System created by the National Archives of Estonia.  Their Archival information System allows users, regardless of affiliation, to search the collections of the National Archives of Estonia. The National Archives of Estonia have also created multiple databases that allow users to access digitized materials from their collections as well as the collections of other Estonian archives.


  •  Saaga: Digitalised Archival Sources provides access to all the archival records digitized in the National Archives of Estonia and Tallinn City Archives. The original purpose of this source was to provide access to genealogical materials so many of the collections reflect this focus. However, there are new materials being added regularly, you can find more than 9 million images of sources at the moment. Collections include: church records, family archives, municipal records, maps, and other government records. 
  • The Film and Sound Archive Database (FIS) allows users to search the film and sound archives of the National Archives of Estonia. The collections of the Film Archives include film and video material on Estonia from the early 20th century to the present. Materials include newsreels, newsreel segments, documentaries, music films, feature films, animated films, advertisements and amateur films. The Sound Archives consist primarily of phonograph records produced since the early 20th century, as well as of the radio broadcasts produced from the 1930's and later. Users can search both the full archives or restrict to digitized material.

  •  FOTIS, photo database, allows users to search the holdings of the photo archives and access digitized copies when available. The archives hold Estonia's largest collection of historical photographs dating as early as the late 19th century. Materials include portraits and albums of Baltic German families, military figures, student fraternities, émigré Estonian organizations and the agriculture and genealogy societies.
  •  Kaardid, map database, provides access to the registers of historic maps held by the National Archives of Estonia and Tallinn City Archives. Users can access both descriptions of maps located at the archives and digitized copies. The database currently has over 140,000 descriptions and over 50,000 digitized maps.


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4/02/2018

Mary Zirin's Bibliography of Pre-Revolutionary Writings by Women

We are excited to announce that Annabella Irvine and Sveta Stoytcheva of the Slavic Reference Service recently completed an online database of Mary Zirin's Bibliography of Pre-Revolutionary Writings by Women. Mary Zirin gave her bibliography to the Slavic Reference Service in 2009. The database allows researchers to search for works in her bibliography by keyword, title, and author, among other fields. Mary is a longtime supporter of the Slavic Reference Service and patron of the service’s Summer Research Lab. The website is intended to honor her work, as well as make it available to other researchers interested in Russian women writers.

About the Database
The database contains over 3,000 entries of authors from the time period, their bibliography, and references. Included in the bibliography are any fiction OR one nonfiction work of at least ten pages OR two poems; with some exceptions for works of special interest to women.  It does not include authors that appear in the following standard reference works: Dictionary of Russian Women Writers, Women and Gender in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and Eurasia: A Comprehensive Bibliography. Volume II: Russia, the Non-Russian Peoples of the Russian Federation, and the Successor States of the Soviet Union, and Russkie pisateli 1800-1917. Biograficheskii slovar'.
To assist scholars with archival research, this database contains references (whenever possible) to personal archives from Lichnye arkhivnye fondy v gosudarstvennykh khranilishchakh SSSR. Ukazatel'.


About Mary Zirin
Within the field of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, Mary Fleming Zirin stands out as a beacon of strength and hope to students, faculty, librarians, and independent scholars. It is impossible to summarize Mary’s extraordinary contributions to the development of Slavic and East European Women’s Studies. As a bibliographer, Mary introduced significant number of scholarly sources on women and gender, which are now standards in the field. These include Dictionary of Russian Women Writers (1994), Women & Gender in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and Eurasia: A Comprehensive Bibliography (2007), and Women East-West Current Bibliography through the Association for Women in Slavic Studies.  Her tireless advocacy on behalf of independent scholars, who are in constant need of access to collections and services, continues to this day.
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ILL Workshop and Toolbox


Recently, we hosted an online workshop for ILL professionals in order to share some of favorite techniques and resources that we use in processing interlibrary loan requests. Since our foundation, the Slavic Reference Service has worked closely with our ILL department to assist with request from our subject areas. In processing these requests, we first verify the citation then locate the item using a variety of tools that are useful for both scholars and librarians alike. Below, we have provided some of the digital resources we often use to solve common bibliographic, transliteration, and location issues.

Often bad citations can persist throughout the bibliographic literature if they are listed incorrectly Ulrich’s: International Serials Directory which is available through our University Library. However, for individuals who do not have access to this product, we also have found elibrary.ru and national library catalogues extremely helpful. The Indiana University Digital Library Program has also provided a digitized copy of  Letopis' Zhurnal'nykh Statei, a serial publication that indexes Soviet-era periodicals from 1956 to 1975. Our research guides also provide bibliographic information (links to databases and catalogs) for countries in the region which can help to locate correct citations in order to locate an item.
Intelibrary Loan Workshop Poster
in a prominent resource. Therefore, we have found it extremely helpful to verify every citation in order to correctly locate a text. Among our favorite resources to do so is

Another common issue in correctly locating texts can often lie in the transliteration system. One of the most useful transliteration resources we have found is the Transliteration Project provided by the Gardener’s Club of Slovakia. Although most catalogues follow the ALA/LOC transliteration standards, some may not. If you are having issues locating a text in a catalogue, the problem may lie in the transliteration system and it is helpful to check.

Finally, the growth of digital libraries in the Russian, East European, and Eurasian region has provided us with numerous resources for indexing and locating full-text digital copies of items.
Among some our most frequently used are:


Our LibGuides also provide further information about digital resources for specific subjects in the subject area. Finally, our staff can provide research consultation and answer specific questions about any of these resources!



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