Guide to Russia, Eastern Europe, and the former USSR: Getting Started

• Search for books in the Library Catalog (formerly called Franklin).

• Using keywords and wildcards will make your catalog searching vastly more efficient. Find expert advice in the Guide to the Library Catalog. Includes detailed tips for Keyword Searching, Search Syntax, Advanced Search, etc.

• Use both Cyrillic and Library of Congress Transliteration to search for Russian materials, since many older books don't contain Cyrillic in their catalog records. You can find transliteration tables at the Library of Congress Romanization Page.

• Current Penn faculty, students, and staff may request scans of book chapters and journal articles.
• If it is an item in the Penn Libraries collection: after you find the item you would like scanned in the library catalog, select "Email me a chapter or a section."
• If it is an item not owned by Penn Libraries, you may request a scan of an article or book chapter using the Article Request Form.
• These scans may only be used for your own personal scholarship, and are subject to Fair Use copyright restrictions. There is a maximum of 5 requests per day, and you may only request one chapter or article at a time.
• More information on Scan Requests is at the "Digital Delivery at the Penn Libraries" Guide.

Zilberman Family Center for Global Collections. Located on the fifth floor of Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, this is the home for most REES materials, as well as other regions traditionally designated as Area Studies (works in the original languages, not English), including East Asia, South Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. Sign up for the Center’s monthly newsletter here, and read previous newsletters here.

• Find scholarly, peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in Articles Plus. Filter your search with the "Options" link, and select "full text" if you'd like to access only works you can get directly through Penn immediately. De-select that option if you'd like see articles we don't have, but that you can request through Interlibrary Loan.
• The Using Articles Plus Guide provides information on limits, filters, and other advanced search tips.

Library of Congress Call Numbers

• Library of Congress Call Numbers are an excellent way for finding books at Penn or other libraries. By browsing the stacks near call numbers that interest you, you will find books you might never have otherwise discovered.
• The complete LC Classification systems are at the Library of Congress Classification Outline page.
• Familiarize yourself with the call numbers most relevant to you. For instance, DK covers Russian History, as well as the history of all of the former Soviet Union, while PG covers all of Russian Literature as well as other Slavic Literatures.

Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Stacks

• You will find a unique arrangement of Russian and other Slavic books at Penn Libraries.
• Books in Russian and other Slavic languages, regardless of call number, are located in the Zilberman Family Center for Global Collections on the fifth floor.
• Books in English (or French & German) on Russian/Slavic topics are on the third and fourth floors.
• Floor Plans
• Stacks Directory

• Many additional books are located at LIBRA (the library storage facility). You can request these in the catalog; they will be delivered to Van Pelt for you to pick up. Find more information in the Using the Collections at LIBRAguide.
• Visitors without a Penn Card may also request items from LIBRA using this form.

• Cinema & Media Studies Research Guide

• History Collection Research Guide

• Political Science Research Guide

• Major Microform Sets in the Penn Libraries

• Russia 2010 Census Data Guide

• Research Data & Digital Scholarship Guides. Covers Digital Publishing, GIS, Network Visualization, ORCiD, Python, R, ScholarlyCommons, and much more.

• All Other Library Research Guides.

• Today’s Hours at all Penn Libraries. Evening/Weekend Library Access Information.
• Quick Start Guide: overview of Penn Libraries website, including: how to find a Subject Librarian or Research Guide, how to reserve a library space for group study or borrow equipment, and more.
• Electronic Resources Guide. Start here if you are having trouble accessing a Penn Libraries Database. This guide also contains other troubleshooting tips and instructions for using VPNs or off-campus access to library resources.
• Self-Checkout at Penn: instructions for downloading the app to check out books with your phone. 
• Where to Copy, Print, and Scan at Van Pelt-Dietrich LIbrary.
• In the Library Service Guides, find information on Circulation, Digital Scholarship, Workshops, etc.
• Library Snapshots. Fun Facts about the many different libraries at Penn.
• 24-hour Study Area: The Goldstein Undergraduate Study Center (USC) is open 24 hours Monday through Thursday (Fall and Spring Semesters only, starting approximately two weeks into the semester). After 11 p.m. it is restricted to to Penn students, faculty, and staff. 

• Citation Management Guide. Covers Zotero and other tools for managing your bibliographies and references.
• Services for Authors Guide. A guide for scholars at Penn seeking to publish their work.
• Copyright Guide. Resources to Support Publishing and Teaching at Penn. Covers Fair Use, Public Domain, AI, and more.
• Open Access Agreements for Penn Authors. A guide to the Penn Libraries’ agreements with numerous publishers to provide APC-free open access publishing opportunities for Penn authors.

• Top of Page: Georgii Narbut, illustration to Zhukovsky's Kak myshi kota khoronili (1910).  Children's Historical Literature Collection, University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections.
• Bottom of Page: Ivan Bilibin, illustration to Pushkin's Tsar Saltan. Children's Historical Literature Collection, University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections.