ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

Internet for Russian and East European studies

By Michael Markiw

Electronic resources for Slavic studies

The continually expanding Internet, a group of interconnected computer networks, links educational, governmental, and commer- cial organizations worldwide. Perhaps the larg- est computer network in the world, its consid- erable size contributes to a vast pool of information. Much of it is so disorganized, how- ever, one often resorts to discovering informa- tion by “net surfing” via navigational tools such as Gopher, which offers lifelines of automatic connections to worldwide networks through its system of hierarchical menus. In order to further systematize information within the In- ternet, efforts are underway to organize some of it by subject. One result of these efforts is a selected listing of Internet resources for Rus- sian and East European studies consisting of computer conferences of special interest groups, electronic journals, newsletters, and online bib- liographies.

Computer Conferences

Subscriptions to listservs provide access to computer conferences of special interest groups. Listserv groups may have Internet or Bitnet addresses, for example, RUSSIA@ARIZVM1.CC IT.ARIZONA.EDU (Internet) and RUSSIA® ARIZVM1 (Bitnet). Subscribers with Internet addresses should use the listserv’s Internet address, (e.g. LISTSERV@ARIZVM1.CCIT.ARI ZONA.EDU) and subscribers with Bitnet addresses should use the listserv’s Bitnet address, (e.g. LISTSERV® ARIZVMl). (Ed note: To subscribe to a list send the following e-mail message to listserv@node, where node is the part of the address after the symbol: SUBSCRIBE Listname FirstName LastName. For example, to subscribe to BALT-L@UBVM, Jane Doe would send the following message to LISTSERV @UBVM: SUBSCRIBE BALT-L Jane Doe.) After the subscription has been requested the subscriber will receive confirmation and further participation instructions. Other conferences appear as newsgroups on Usenet, an international computer network that provides access through most university campus computer systems. Below is a selective list of currently available conferences.

• BALT-INFO links librarians and information specialists in major research libraries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania with their counterparts in the West. Initially, this new network intends to provide information exchange among librarians about Baltic-related library resources and serve as an electronic information resource on the Baltic area. Eventually, other interested researchers in the field of Baltic studies will be able to receive help with bibliographic citations as well as submit reference requests. For subscription information contact Dawn Mann at MANND@RFERL.ORG.

• BALT-L@UBVM (Baltic Republics Discussion List) discusses politics and current affairs of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

• EOCHR (Eastern Orthodox Christian Discussion List) provides a forum for exchange of ideas among members of Eastern and Orthodox churches around the world and other individuals interested in Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Contact Dragic V. Vukomanovic, DRAGIC.VUKOMANOV1C@QUEENSU.CA. to subscribe.

• EUEARN-L@UBVM (Discussion of Eastern EuropeTelecommunications) is concerned with computer communications and technology within this region.

Michael Markiw is Slavic studies librarian at Arizona State University, Tempe, e-mail: iemxm‹S›asuacad.bitnet, or:iemxm@asuvm.inre.asu.edu

• E-EUROPE@PUCC, or, E-EUROPE@PU CC.PRINCETON.EDU (The Eastern Europe Business Network List) discusses business and economic systems of Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

• HUNGARY@GWUVM, or, HUNGARY@UCS BVM (Hungarian Discussion List) provides information on Hungary and Hungarian issues.

• INFO-RUSS serves as an informational medium for members of the Russian emigre community in the U.S., Canada, Israel, Europe, Australia, South Africa, and other countries. Contact Alexander Kaplan, SASHA@SUP ER.ECE.JHU.EDU.

• MIDEUR-L@UBVM, or, MIDEUR-L@UBVM.C C.BUFFALO.EDU (Discussion of Middle Europe Topics) focuses on Central European politics, history, and culture. Topics often relate to Eastern Europe.

• POLAND-L@UBVM, or, POLAND-L@UBVM.C C.BUFFALO.EDU provides a forum for discussion of Polish current events and culture. Contributions are in Polish and English.

• RUSHHIST@USCVM, or, RUSHIST@DOS UNI1, or RUSHIST@CSEARN (Russian History Fomm) discusses Russian history from 1462-1917.

• RUSSIA® ARIZVM1, or, RUSSIA® ARIZVM1 .CC IT.ARIZONA.EDU (Russia and Her Neighbors List) is concerned with the new order within the former Soviet Union and political affairs of neighboring countries.

• RUSTEX-L@UBVM (Russia TeX and Cyrillic Processing List) focuses on representation of Cyrillic characters on computer screens. Covers Cyrillic text processing and transliteration of Slavic and non-Slavic Cyrillic alphabet languages.

• SCS-L@INDYCMS, or, newsgroup soc.cul ture.soviet, deals with cultural issues within the former Soviet Union.

• SEELANGS@CUNYVM (Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures List) promotes scholarly communication among members of the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages but includes non-members. Also features Russian satellite television program schedules.

• SLOVAK-L@UBVM, or, SLOVAK-L@UB VM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU (Discussion of Slovak Issues) is concerned with politics and current events within the newly established Slovak Republic. An English translation of the Constitution of the Slovak Republic is available within the archives of this discussion group.

• SOVHISTØUSCVM, or SOVHIST@DOS UNI1, or SOVHIST@CSEARN (Soviet History Forum) covers Soviet History from 1917-1991 .

• TPS-L@INDYCMS (Talk Politics Soviet), or, newsgrouptalk.politics.soviet, focuses on political and economic issues relating to Russia and other former Soviet republics.

• UKRAINE@ARIZVM1, or, UKRAINE® ARIZV M1.CCIT.ARIZONA.EDU is devoted to the exchange of information about Ukraine and may include Ukrainian language, history, geography, churches and films.

• VAL-L@UCF1VM (Michael Valentine Smith’s Commentary) discusses political and social issues within Russia, other former Soviet republics and Eastern Europe.

• Other news groups available on Usenet focusing on specific Eastern European countries include soc.culture.baltics, soc.culture.bos na-herzgvna, soc.culture.bulgaria, soc.culture .Croatia, soc.culture.czecho-slovak, soc.culture .magyar, soc.culture.europe, soc.culture.po lish, soc.culture.romanian, soc.culture.ukrain ian, and soc.culture.yugoslavia.

Electronic Journals

Subscription requests for electronic journals are generally sent to either a listserv or to the individual responsible for its distribution.

• DONOSY offers daily news bulletins from Poland. Articles are in Polish but a weekly English language version is available. For U.S. subscriptions contact Przemek Klosowski, PRZEMEK@NDCVX.CC.ND.EDU; outside the U.S. send requests to DONOSY@PLEARN.

• RFE/RL Daily Report, issued by the RFE/RL Research Institute, a division of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Inc., is an excellent source of current events information on Russia, Transcaucasia, Central Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe. Each issue, published Monday through Friday, may present information on government meetings, parliamentary decisions, newly approved laws, trade- union activities, ethnic tensions and troop movements within the above-mentioned areas. Reports are available via LISTSERV@UB VM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU or from LISTSERV @UBVM.

• SUEARN-L@UBVM (Connecting the USSR to the Internet Digest), or, newsgroup bit.list serv.su-earn, provides information on telecommunication links within Eastern Europe.

Articles may include directions for reaching Russian and Eastern European sites by electronic mail, computer networks, databases, information technology, and the online industry within this area.

Newsletters

Subscription requests for newsletters are generally sent to the individual responsible for its distribution.

• CAROLINA@CSEARN, a weekly newsletter reporting on current events in the Czech Republic is published by the students of journalism at Charles University in Prague. Articles are in Czech or English.

A number of newsletters describe current events in die countries comprising the former Yugoslavia.

• Bosnet, published daily, covers news of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Articles are mostly in English and languages spoken in Bosnia. Contact Hozo Iztok, HOZO@MATH.LSA.U MICH.EDU.

• Croatian-News (English) / Hrvatski-Vjesnik (Croatian), offer news from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Slovenia. News sources may include transcripts from Croatian and other newspapers. Croatian-News is available from CROATIAN-NEWSREQUESTØAN DREW.CMU.EDU and Hrvatski-Vjesnik can be obtained from HRVATSKI-VJESNIK-ZAM OLBE@ANDREW.CMU.EDU.

• MILS-NEWS, published by the Macedonian Information and Liaison Service, is a digest of current events in Macedonia. It is issued daily in English and Macedonian via listserver MAK- NEWS@UTS.EDU.AU.

• RokPress presents news from Slovenia. Slovene is the principal language but news from Croatian and Serbian sources may be included. Subscriptions can be requested from Igor Benko, IBENKO@MAVERICO.UWATER LOO.CA.

• SII distributes news and discusses current events affecting Serbs. Contact OWNER@MOU MEE.CALSTATELA.EDU.

• VND (Vreme News Digest) is an electronic English-language version of the weekly newspaper, Vreme which serves all areas of former Yugoslavia. Selected articles from Vreme are translated into English. For subscriptions contact Dmitrije Stamenovic, DMITRIJE@BU ENGA.BU.EDU.

Online Bibliographies

ABSEES Online, an electronic version of the American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies available at no charge via the Internet, is a source of citations for journal articles, government and research reports, book chapters, and books published in the United States and Canada. Contact Aaron Trehub, Editor, ABSEES, absees@uxl.cso.uiuc.edu. ■