The Kathryn W. and Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies (DCRES) Library was established in 1948, as a constituent part of the newly-organized, Carnegie Corporation-funded, Russian Research Center. The main purpose of the RRC Library, as it was then known, was to serve the needs of the faculty of the new multidisciplinary institute for the study of the Soviet Union and to complement the extensive Slavic holdings of the Harvard University Library. The present-minded purpose behind the Carnegie Corporation grant explains why the focus of the collection was (and to some extent remains) contemporary politics, sociology, statistics, economics, and history of Russia, the Soviet Union, and its successor states in Eurasia. The current name was adopted in July 2002 to more fully represent the core mission of the Center and its library, which is to advance the study of all countries of the region, beginning with — but not restricted to — the current-day Russian Federation.

Over the course of its nearly 60 year history, the library has had only four librarians. These individuals made the acquisitions and provided the public services that have built today's collection. Originally, the library supported the research of the scholars involved in the Harvard Project on the Soviet Social System (HPSSS), ordering microfilms and originals of hard-to-get Russian-language journals, newspapers, and books. From the very beginning, however, the library also supported the Center's teaching mission, meeting the needs of Harvard faculty and students in Government and Economics departments of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences; graduate students in the Center's regional studies MA program (also founded in 1948); as well as visiting scholars and New England-based Center associates.

The library now holds approximately 18,000 volumes and maintains current subscriptions to about 120 newspaper and periodical titles in both Russian and English. Its special collections, particularly the Harvard Project on the Soviet Social System, are an invaluable resource not only to members of the Harvard community, but also to the broader international community of scholars, especially those working on the history of the Cold War, the evolution of area studies, as well as the political and economic issues of contemporary Russia and Eurasia.

Davis Center Library Collections Davis Center Library Collections

General collection:

The DCRES Library maintains a core collection of books and periodicals related to the field of Russian and Eurasian studies, particularly in the social sciences (political science, economics, sociology, and history) of that region of the world.

The DCRES general collection (RRC GEN) consists primarily of reference books, archival guides, and statistical publications, as well as current newspapers and periodicals. These 6,000 on-site volumes constitute only about one third of the total DCRES library collection, the remainder of which is currently located at the Harvard Depository. As a very general rule of thumb, the portion of the collection in storage at the depository (RRC HD) consists of books published before 1977, periodicals published before 1990, and newspapers published before 2000. In some instances ( e.g., the FBIS Daily Report series on Central Eurasia), the hard copy of a particular title is located exclusively at the Davis Center Library and the microfilm or fiche is at Microfilm Reading Room of Lamont.

After completion of the retroactive barcoding project, the entire collection will be searchable online in HOLLIS, the Harvard Library catalog. Until then, please check individual listings or consult the librarian for more information.

Newspapers and Periodicals:

The DCRES Library has print subscriptions to a large selection of area journals and newspapers. Current issues may be browsed in the library and selected back issues may be ordered from HD for next day delivery.

Monthlies:

Chelovek I trud

Commentary

Delovaia Zhizn'

Dengi i kredit

Diplomaticheskii vestnik

Druzhba narodov

EKO

Ekonomist

Eurasian Geography & Economics

Europe-Asia Studies

Finansy

Gosudarstvo I Pravo

Mirovaia Ekonomika I Mezhd.Otn.

Nash sovremennik

New Times

Novyi mir

Obshchestvo i ekonomika

Otechestvennye Zapiski

Post-Soviet Geography

Problems of Economic Transition

Rossiia I musul'manskii mir

Russian Economic Trends

RRC Economic Newsletter

SshA/Kanada

Svobodnaia mysl'

SOTSIS

Sovershenno sekretno

Tsentral'naia Azia i Kavkaz

Vestnik Rossiiskoi Akad.Nauk

Vetnik Tsentr.Izb.Kom.RF

Vlast'

Voennaia Mysl'

Voenno-istoricheskii arkhiv

Voenno-istoricheskii zhurnal

Voprosy ekonomiki

Voprosy filosofii

Voprosy istorii

Voprosy statistiki

Zakon

Zvezda

Znamia

Quarterlies:

Beyond Transition (World Bank)

Biulleten' seti etnologich.monitoringa

Canadian-American Slavic Studies

Central Asia and the Caucasus (Rustem)

Central Asian Monitor

Central Asian Survey

Communist Economies & Ec. Trans.

Communist & Post-Communist Studies

Comparative Economic Studies

Connections

Demokratizatsiia

East Central Europe

East European Constitutional Review

East European Jewish Affairs

East European Politics and Societies

East European Quarterly

Economics of Transition

Etnograficheskoe Obozrenie

Eurasian Geography and Economics

Federalizm

Foreign Affairs

International Affairs

International Problems

Istochnik

Istoricheskii Arkhiv

Journal of Cold War Studies

Journal of Comparative Economics

Journal of European Economic History

Jews in Eastern Europe

Kontinent

Kritika

Monitoring Obshchestv.Mneniia

Narodonaselenie

National Interest

Nationalities Papers

Nauchnaia mysl' Kavkaza

NewsNet

Novaia i noveishaia istoriia

Otechestvennaia istoriia

Otechestvennye arkhivy

Perspective

POLIS

Post-Soviet Affairs

Post-Communist Economies

Problems of Post-Communism

Region

Review of the Russian Economy

Russia in Global Affairs

Rossiia I musul'manskii mir

Russian Economic Trends

Russian Histoire

Russian Review

Region

Slavic Review

Slavic & EE Information Res.

Sociological Research

Soviet & Post-Soviet Review

Statisticheskoe obozrenie

Tsentral'naia Aziia I Kavkaz

Vestnik Konst. Suda RF

Vestnik Russkogo Khrist. Dvizheniia

Vremia i my

Zdravookhranenie RF

Weeklies:

Argumenty I Fakty

Current Digest of the Post-Soviet Press

Ekonomika I zhizn'

Ekspert

Istoriia

Itogi

Kommersant Vlast'

Kul'tura

Literaturnaia Gazeta

Moscow News

Moscovskie novosti

Novoe vremia

Ogonek

Panorama

Polityka

Sobranie zakonodatel'stva RF

Uchitel'skaia gazeta

Vedomosti Fed.Sobraniia RF

Vestnik Ts.Izb.Kom.RF

Zavtra

In addition, a large number of these titles have online versions available through Harvard College Libraries. If you need assistance finding a specific title, check out the link to Slavic Studies electronic resources or feel free to consult the librarian.

Microfilm Collection:

Union Republic newspapers (1955-1990)Davis Center Library microfilm collection – 9 boxes (in HD)

Special Collections

Harvard Project on the Soviet Social System (HPSSS) – 80 boxesSakharov archive library – in processDCL Press Packets Collection (Center for Democratic Institutions) – 3 boxes (in HD)DCL Offprint File (RRC professors) – 5 boxes DCL Vertical File (ephemera classified by subject) – 14 boxes (in HD)DC/RRC Seminars – 2 boxes (in HD)

Davis Center Library NY Times clipping file (1965-) – 9 boxes (in HD)