Library Resources

Columbia University Libraries

Students and scholars coming to the Harriman Institute have at their disposal one of the finest collections of materials on Russia and the post-Soviet nations in the West. Columbia's holdings are accessible through Columbia's online catalog, CLIO http://clio.cul.columbia.edu.

Russian, East European and Eurasian vernacular language holdings are estimated to consist of over one million monographic titles, adding approximately 14,000 titles each year.  This includes the historic, and growing Post-Soviet Nationalities Collection of more than 20,000 titles in 59 languages of the Russian Federation, Central Asia and the Caucasus.

The Libraries subscribe to all significant sources of electronic information from and about the region, including bibliographic databases and full-text repositories of current newspapers, government documents, and scholarly journals.

Through an innovative partnership with the Cornell University Library, Columbia’s collections are developed in coordination with those in Ithaca, dramatically reducing duplication while creating a more expansive research resource.  This work is coordinated by the Columbia Librarian for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies.  Through the efficient BorrowDirect Network, students and faculty have borrowing privileges at all of the Ivy League institutions, plus M.I.T. 

For more information contact Robert Davis at (212) 854-4701; [email protected].

Bakhmeteff Archive

Established in 1951, the Bakhmeteff Archive of Russian and East European History and Culture, the second largest repository of Russian émigré materials in the United States, contains approximately 1.3 million items in 1000 collections. These collections, made up of letters, diaries, memoirs, tapes, photographs, original manuscripts, and other documentary materials, cover the period from the 17th century to the present. The papers of well-known political personages such as Ferenc Nagy, Zoltan Pfeiffer, Imre Kovacs, and Jaromir Smutny are of particular importance to historians and political scientists interested in the modern history of East Central Europe. The Bakhmeteff Archive is located on the 6th Floor, east of Butler Library.

For further information, contact Curator Tanya Chebotarev: (212) 854-3986, [email protected] For more information, visit the Bakhmeteff Archive website.

New York Public Library

In addition to Columbia's libraries, scholars at the Harriman Institute can draw on the famed Slavic and Baltic resources of the New York Public Library (located at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue) are only a short subway ride away.   Together, the collections of Columbia and the New York Public Library comprise one of the largest concentrations of Slavic and East European language materials in the country.

Through a partnership with NYPL and NYU, advanced graduate students and registered faculty may apply for borrowing privileges at the NYPL.

For more information, contact Dr. Stephen D. Corrsin, Curator at (212) 930-0636; [email protected]

Visit the NYPL website for hours and more information on the collection: www.nypl.org.
 

Columbia Center for Oral History

Harriman Institute faculty, fellows and students may also request access to the archives of the Columbia Central for Oral History, which include the memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev, former director Robert Legvold, the Radio Liberty Project, and many others.

801 Butler Library, 212 854-7083; Website: http://oralhistoryportal.cul.columbia.edu/.