OSA / Guide / Fonds / HU OSA 300-80

HU OSA	300-80 C
Authority entry:	Soviet Red Archives

Names Red Archives, Krasnyi arkhiv

Date(s) and Place(s) of existence 1953-1994

Business location

RFE/RL Inc., Oettingenstr. 67, Am Englischen Garten, 8000 München 22, West Germany

Mandate, functions and sphere of activity

At the beginning of Radio Liberty's operations in 1953, a small group of staff in the Research Section took responsibility for screening incoming Soviet and Western newspapers and journals (approximately 40 at that time period) and writing abstracts for significant articles. Any relevant information was passed to the Broadcasting Department and the abstracts, clippings, and related documents were filed.

As time progressed, the number of sources grew to over 500, including all available Soviet newspapers, all major Soviet magazines, and numerous Soviet professional journals. Western sources were also monitored, although the primary goal of the Research Department for this project was to reconstruct the situation of the Soviet Union primarily using Soviet press. The name "Soviet Red Archives" appears somewhere near the end of the 1950s as a way of identifying this project.

Besides building the information bank, the staff of the Soviet Red Archives also provided reference services to their colleagues at Radio Liberty and outside researchers; contributed to Radio publications (such as Background Reports and Research Reports, and prepared publications of their own.

Administrative structure

Originally, members of the Research Section, which fell administratively under the jurisdiction of the Radio Liberty Information Department, initiated the Soviet Red Archives project. In the early 1960s, the Information Department became the Soviet Research Department. After the merge of Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe, the name changed to the Research of Soviet Affairs Department. During the time of the Research Institute (1990-1994), the Soviet Red Archives became part of the Slavic, Baltic, and Eurasian Archives.

Other significant information

During 50 years of its existence, the number of employees working for the Soviet Red Archives varied. At the time of the Research Institute it reached three dozens.

Rules or conventions

ISAAR(CPF): International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families General Intenational Standard Archival Description; OSA Internal Rules.

Dates of description

Prepared by Jennie Levine in 1996; revised by Natasha Zanegina, 2001; revised by Jennie Levine, 2004
Online version updated 18 December 2008