Regional Archives in Russia: user's manual
Over the past five weeks, I have conducted research in three state archives, two libraries, and one museum in three different cities in the Ural and southern Volga regions in Russia:
the Central State Historical Archive of the Republic of Bashkortostan (TsGIARB)
the State Archive of the Orenburg Oblast (GAOrO)
the State Archive of the Astrakhan Oblast (GAAO)
the Orenburg Regional Library
the Astrakhan Regional Library
and the Astrakhan State Unified Historical-Architectural Museum-Reserve
At these sites, I have collected primary, secondary, and photographic sources about the pre-Soviet history of the Inner Kazakh Horde, an administrative division of the Russian empire situated between the Volga and Ural rivers. The goal of this post is to provide a few first-hand tips about accessing, consulting documents, and requesting reproductions in these institutions.
Before entering an archive, I read their website (see embedded links above) and search for a guide (путеводитель) to their collections. All of archives I visited - TsGIARB, GAOrO, and GAAO - had published guides online for the pre-Soviet period. The GAOrO website even features a downloadable version of their 1966 guidebook. Parts of this guidebook are dated, especially since some files have been re-organized or placed under restoration following a fire in 2003; nonetheless, it helped me identify which collections pertained to my research. Details about the collections at GAAO are currently being hosted on a separate site, which can be found at the Agency for the Affairs of the Archives of the Astrakhan Region.
Aside from a passport, the most important document to bring to the archive is a letter of affiliation, preferably from a Russian institution. The Dean of the History Faculty at my affiliate institution, the National Research University - Higher School of Economics in Saint Petersburg, prepared formal, stamped introductory letters tailored to each archive. These letters were brief and included details about my affiliation, research topic, and approximate time period (e.g., "Административные изменения, делопроизводство, и семейные отношения во Внутренной Орде в XIX в."). On the first day, I would present these letters to the director of the reading room and complete an application (заявление) with additional personal details such as my passport number, local phone number, and US address. These documents were forwarded to the archive's director, who would then determine whether I would be granted access.
TsGIARB and GAOrO allowed immediate access to their collection inventories (описи); in Ufa, in fact, I was given five files (дела) my very first day in the archive. Gaining access to the collections at GAAO in Astrakhan was slightly more difficult because they have stricter policies for foreign scholars than local ones. (Ostensibly, they have some “confidential” files in the archive.) Since my letter of affiliation had not been printed on official letterhead and I had not contacted the archive in advance, the director did not permit me to consult any of the inventories on my first day. Two days later, after the Higher School of Economics sent a brief email, I was able to work at GAAO without any additional problems.
I only needed my passport to access library collections in Orenburg and Astrakhan. In Orenburg, where the library has undergone a recent renovation, I was given an official library card that is valid until 2018. In Astrakhan, I was issued a temporary paper card without a photograph. The collections in both of these libraries were rather limited, but featured a selection of primary and secondary source material on regional history. Furthermore, the librarians in the regional studies division (отдел краеведения) in both libraries were extremely generous with their time and helped me navigate their catalogues.
To work with the maps and photographs housed in the museum in Astrakhan, I simply had to submit a handwritten request with my name, position/job, affiliation, and research topic to the museum director. (They did not even check my passport and, when I visited the museum the following day, they did not realize that I was from the United States!) Permission to work with the museum's collections was granted within a day. The only difficulty I encountered at the museum was that I could not access a collection if the curator was not present.
Once a foreign or otherwise non-local scholar had been granted access, the directors of the reading rooms were willing to make special accommodations. In particular, they would let us work during the weekly "cleaning" (санитарный) or "non-receiving" (неприемный) days. But I was not allowed to work during the daily lunch breaks at TsGIARB and GAAO. And, with the exception of TsGIARB, I could not request more than five files a day. The directors would, however, have the files ready before lunch the following day. (Local researchers, on the other hand, usually have to wait a few days to receive a file.)
Acquiring high quality reproductions from these institutions can be expensive and difficult. At TsGIARB, I paid 250 rubles per file to take an unrestricted number of photographs with my own camera. At GAOrO and GAAO, on the other hand, the archivists had to approve and produce each copy as a digital photograph. The cost of these reproductions could be exorbitantly high. The archives' price schedules varied according to the age and quality of the document. The fee for reproducing a document from the 19th century was approximately 250-300 rubles per file. I then had to pay an additional 30 to 50 rubles per page. Requesting three, single-sided pages from one file could cost as much as 450 rubles. In Ufa, Orenburg, and Astrakhan, all of these fees had to be paid at a local Sberbank since there were no cashiers on site. After presenting my bank receipt to the archivists at GAAO, I was able to transfer digital photographs of the requested documents to an external flash drive. These photographs were prepared within a day, but the resolution (dpi) was low and the overall quality was far poorer than the photographs I usually take in archives. For this reason, I did not request any further reproductions at GAAO. Since I did not request any copies at GAOrO, I cannot speak to how much time they need to complete a request or to the quality of the reproductions. Overall, I recommend that scholars discuss the procedures for reproductions on their first day in the archive and request reproductions at least three days before departing.
Libraries have copy machines and cashiers on site. No special permission is needed to photocopy recently published materials and the prices are reasonable (between 5-7 rubles per page). I am not personally familiar with the procedures for requesting reproductions of older, nineteenth century materials at these sites.
It is also possible to request digital reproductions of nineteenth century photographs and maps at the Astrakhan museum. For each set of reproductions, there is a flat 600 ruble service fee. Then there is an additional 750 ruble copyright fee per document. Thus, the cost of reproducing one photograph is 1350 rubles; reproducing two photographs adds up to 2100 rubles. It is possible to negotiate a sizable (50%) discount with the museum director if you are a local or foreign graduate student. All fees can be paid on site. Since the museum knew that I was on a strict schedule, they were able to prepare the requested reproductions and transfer them to my external flash drive within three days. In fact, they allowed me to use their equipment to scan a series of individual photographs and postcards; this way, I could personally ensure the quality of the reproductions. The images I had requested from a photographic album had to be re-photographed by a specialist. The resulting photographs are all high, printable quality.
In short, based on my experiences, I recommend that scholars contact a regional archive in advance to learn about restrictions on access and the state of the archive's collection. Neither of these details may be easy to locate on the archive's website. To avoid the type of problem I initially faced at GAAO, they should also ensure that their letters of affiliation are signed, sealed, and printed on official letterhead. At the same time, scholars should visit libraries and museums even if they lack official letters of introduction for these institutions; the curators at these sites are usually excited to share their collections with serious researchers. Lastly, scholars should budget a significant amount of money (thousands of rubles) if they intend to request reproductions from archives and museums in Russia.