There are a large number of periodical sources that are published as supplements to the national bibliographies for the area. Each country has different types of sources for periodicals that vary in comprehensiveness. The following list includes the major sources not included on the national bibliography list that are of importance for the area. In this section are listed those sources that cover periodical articles on more than one country and that are, to some extent, interdisciplinary.
Bibliographie zur osteuropaischen geschichte. Verzeichnis der zwischen 1939 und 1964 veroffentlichten. Series: biblioraphische mitteilungen des osteuropa-instituts an der freien Universitat Berlin. 10.
Meyer, Klaus. Berlin: Otto Harrassowitz, 1972.
U of I Library Call Number: International & Area Studies General Slavic Reference (Slavic) 016.947 M575bi
Bibliographie zur osteuropaischen geschichte. Verzeichnis der zwischen 1965 und 1974. Series: bibliographische mitteilungen des osteuropa-instituts an der freien Universitat Berlin. 22.
Schmidt, Christian D. Berlin: Otto Harrassowitz, 1983.
U of I Library Call Number: International & Area Studies General Slavic Reference (Slavic) 016.947 Sch52b
These two volumes index Western scholarship on all of the region from the 1939 to 1974. Arranged by country, the volumes both open with a section on works on the region. Some 950 periodical titles have been indexed in these volumes, providing the scholar with a picture of the development of Western scholarship in the area of East European studies. While the second volume expanded the coverage of the work to include a greater range of subject areas, the two include the same major subject areas. Entries are not annotated but do provide full bibliographic information. This is a useful source for information on archival publications in the area.
UlrichsWeb Serials Directory
URL: http://www.ulrichsweb.com/ulrichsweb
In the past identifying a periodical index for a particular title could be a tedious undertaking. Resources such as Ulrichs international serials directory, while helpful, can be somewhat misleading. If one checks Ulrichs guide for a title such as Arkhitektura the following detailed information will be available.
There is a secondary entry under “Abstracting indexes and Article Access” that will list the indexes for this title. Recently, Ulrichs began listing non-Western indexes, but their coverage is not full yet. It may seem that this is not necessarily important information if there is a Western indexing service. However, a non-Western source would clearly be useful for identifying more obscure titles that might not be indexed in the West. Besides, it might also provide a more complete listing of the contents.
This example is not mentioned to encourage the scholar to skip the Western sources. If the goal is to get an overview of the titles included in a particular publication, an indexing service will suffice. For anything more comprehensive, it will be necessary to work with a complete index of the title. To check the entire contents of a periodical, it will be necessary to search either the table of contents for each issue or to check the compiled contents usually found in the last issue for the year. Some titles will have five or ten year indexes compiled and published either in special issues or separately.
The American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies (ABSEES).
Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe. 1957-
U of I Library Call Number: Main Stacks and Oak Street Facility 016.9496 Am3. Oak Street Facility Z2483 .A65
URL: http://www.library.illinois.edu/absees/ (U of I only)
The paper form of this bibliography has been available since 1957 and has been a basic resource for Slavic scholars from its initial appearance. ABSEES has always included primarily English language publications issued in the U.S. or Canada, with the occasional foreign language article or book being included if issued in U.S. or Canada. The bibliography has always included a lengthy section of reviews. Separate author and subject indexes have also been a consistent feature of the bibliography. In the early years of its publication, ABSEES was essential for research in the field as many of the titles indexed here were not included in any of the other major indexing resources.
One of the other useful features of the bibliography was its list of journals indexed. For those new to the field, or simply trying to identify the important journal titles in their discipline this was a quick way to get a list of all titles in the area. The bibliography was organized into subject categories.
In its electronic form, ABSEES contains materials published from 1990 to the present. Citations for journal articles, books, book chapters, book reviews, dissertations, and selected government publications on East-Central Europe and the former Soviet Union published in the United States and Canada can all be found in this database as they could be in the paper copy.
ABSEES Online is available to colleges, universities, and other non-profit institutions for an annual subscription fee. This is an enormously useful bibliographic resource.
The European Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies (EBSEES).
Paris: Institu d’Etudes Slaves Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sociales. 1974-
U of I Library Call Number: Main Stacks and Oak Street Facility Q.016.947 Eu71
URL: http://ebsees.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/
The paper bibliography indexing books and articles published in eight Western Europe began publication in 1974. The countries included were Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Originally the bibliography covered publications on all of the East European nations and what is now the former Soviet Union and this policy continues.
The bibliography is divided into two parts. The first covers materials relevant to the area as a whole. The second in organized by individual country. Book reviews were included in the paper publication up to 1995. After that time, they are only included in the online copy.
The online version of the bibliography contains references to some 35,876 articles, books and dissertations on the social sciences published between 1991 and 1996. Materials included here are all published in Europe. One of the advantages of this resource is that it is presently freely accessible. Institutions in a number of countries contribute records to this excellent resource.
Article Databases and Indexes
URL: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ERF/servlet/ERFmain?cmd=searchSub&subjectId=109&resTypeId=12
This list is provided by the University of California at Berkeley and lists a number of subscription services that are extremely useful for those working in the Slavic field. The site is listed here since most scholars working through their universities or those working independently will have access to some library sites. These are available either through a university/college library or through a public library. It is important that they not be overlooked as sources of information for those working in the Slavic field.
One word of warning about some of the indexing services. Many of these services index only English language periodicals. It is therefore worth your time to check the information on the service to be sure you will find the information you are seeking.
It is also the case that many of these now have a great deal of retrospective depth. Thus, PAIS covers Western publications from the 1970s to the present, MLA covers publications in Western and Slavic languages from 1963 to the present. There is a wealth of material to be had here.
When you do not have access to these services at your own institution, using these resources may be a consideration in any research trip you plan. It is, therefore, worthwhile to investigate the access you will have to such services when visiting another institution. It may be the case that you can only use these resources with a local identification number. While they are often provided to anyone using the campus it is worth checking if services such as ABSEES will be available on campus as they will assist enormously in identifying material you need for your research.