Guides

Guides are annotated listings providing access to a wide range of reference sources both bibliographic and non-bibliographic for a variety of subject areas. In addition to reference works, they may also include major studies in any given field: standard histories, critical editions of classics, legal sources, atlases, etc. They tend to be highly selective in their coverage.

Guides serve as a starting point for any research and are especially useful for beginning research and background information in fields secondary to the main focus of the research.

Croucher, M. Slavic Studies: A Guide to Bibliographies, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks. Wilmington, Scholarly Resources, 1993. 2 vols.

Horecky, P.L., ed. Basic Russian Publications. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1962.

Horecky, P.L., ed. Russia and the Soviet Union. A Bibliographic Guide to Western Language Publications. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1965.

continued by:

Horak, S.M. Russia, the USSR, and Eastern Europe. A Bibliographic Guide to English Language Publications. 1964-1974. Littleton, Colo., Libraries Unlimited, 1979; and continuation for 1975-1980, published in 1982; for 1981-1985, published in 1987.

Sullivan, H. F., Burger, R. Russia and the Former Soviet Union : A Bibliographic Guide to English Language Publications, 1986-1991. Englewood, Colo., Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1994.

Maichel, K. Guide to Russian Reference Books. Vol. 1. General Bibliographies and Reference Books. Stanford, Hoover Institution, 1962 (Hoover Institution Bibliographical Series, X).

Simmons, J.S.G. Russian Bibliography, Libraries and Archives. A Selective List of Bibliographical References for Students of Russian History, Literature, Political, Social, and Philosophical Thought, Theology, and Linguistics. Oxford, A.C. Hall, 1973. Typewritten supplementary sheets were issued by the author.

de Bonnieres, F. Guide de L'Etudiant en Russe. Paris, Institut d'Etudes Slaves, 1977 (Documents Pedagogiques de l'Institut d'Etudes Slaves, XIV).

Walker, G.P.M., ed. Official Publications of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, 1945-1980. A Selected Annotated Bibliography. London, Mansell, 1982. (Although this is not a guide in the strict sense, it has a number of entries of a general character, such as encyclopedias, national bibliographies, statistical sources, and legal documents, which justify its inclusion here.)

Guide of international scope:

Sheehy, E.P., ed. Guide to Reference Books. 10th edn. Chicago, American Library Association, 1986. Supplement. Covering Materials from 1985 to 1990. Chicago, American Library Association, 1992.

Electronic data

Gale Directory of Databases. Vol. 1. Online Databases; Vol. 2. CD-ROM, Diskette, Magnetic Tape, Handheld, and Batch Access Databases Products. K.Y. Marcaccio, ed. Detroit, Gale Research Inc. Semiannual.

Russian bibliographers have not produced major guides. But the following might be helpful

Mez'er, A.V. Slovarnyi Ukazatel' Po Knigovedeniiu. Leningrad, Kolos, 1924.

Mez'er, A.V. Slovarnyi Ukazatel' Po Knigovedeniiu. Moscow, Gos. sotsial'no-ekonomicheskoe izdatel'stvo, 1931-1934. 3 vols. (A continuation of 1924 edn).

Textbooks

Kirpicheva, I.K. Bibliografiia V Pomoshch' Nauchnoi Rabote. Metodicheskoe I Spravochnoe Posobie. Leningrad, [SS], 1958.

continued by:

Ienish, E.V. Bibliograficheskii Poisk V Nauchnoi Rabote. Spravochnoe Posobie-Putevoditel'. Edited by I.K. Kirpicheva. Moscow, Kniga, 1982.