Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Contents
1.0 What does this archive contain? ............................................................................................... 2 1.1 RGASPI Materials (Bibliographic Records, Scanned Page Images).................................... 2 1.1.1 Fond ............................................................................................................................... 2 1.1.2 Opis ................................................................................................................................ 2 1.1.3 Delo ................................................................................................................................ 3 1.1.4 Document ....................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Annals of Communism Materials ......................................................................................... 3 1.2.1 Annals of Communism Volumes ................................................................................... 3 1.2.2 Annals of Communism Documents ............................................................................... 3 2.0 Accessing the Archive .............................................................................................................. 5 2.1 Logging in with an institutional subscription ....................................................................... 5 3.0 What can I do in this archive?................................................................................................... 6 3.1 Search Content ...................................................................................................................... 6 3.1.1 Performing a Search ....................................................................................................... 6 3.1.2 Working with Search Results......................................................................................... 9 3.2. Browse ............................................................................................................................... 14 3.3 Document Viewer ............................................................................................................... 16 3.3.1 Document Viewer Toolbar .......................................................................................... 17 3.3.2 Image Viewer Panel ..................................................................................................... 17 3.3.3 Text Viewer Panel........................................................................................................ 18 3.3.4 Document Info Panel ................................................................................................... 19 4.0 MySDA ................................................................................................................................... 22 4.1 MySDA Home .................................................................................................................... 22 4.2 Notifications ........................................................................................................................ 22 4.3 Research Interests ............................................................................................................... 22 4.3.1 Joining a Research Interest .......................................................................................... 23 4.3.2 Creating a New Research Interest ................................................................................ 23 4.4 Discussion Forums .............................................................................................................. 24 4.4.1 The Discussion Boards Page ........................................................................................ 24 4.4.3 Participating in a topic thread ...................................................................................... 25 4.4.4 Creating a new topic thread ......................................................................................... 26 4.5 Library................................................................................................................................. 26
Stalin Digital Archive User Guide 4.5.1 Saving a document ....................................................................................................... 26 4.6 Community Pages ............................................................................................................... 28 4.6.1 My Profile .................................................................................................................... 28 4.6.2 Research Interests ........................................................................................................ 28 4.7 My Annotations .................................................................................................................. 29 4.8 My Tags .............................................................................................................................. 29 4.9 Saved Searches.................................................................................................................... 29
1.0 What does this archive contain? 1.1 RGASPI Materials (Bibliographic Records, Scanned Page Images)
The Stalin Digital Archive (SDA) consists primarily of scanned page images and corresponding bibliographic records written in Russian created by the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History (RGASPI). The primary source material represented by these images and records include documents relating to Joseph Stalins personal biography, his work in government, and his conduct of foreign affairs. RGASPIs method of organizing this material in the physical archive is a hierarchical system of nesting folders, and this structure has informed both the selection of material for the SDA and its ultimate presentation. To understand this archives content and organization, it is therefore necessary to review the physical archives organizational system.
1.1.1 Fond
The fond is the highest-level organizational structure in RGASPIs physical collection. Functionally, each fond is like a filing cabinet that contains several drawers filled with folders. Within RGASPIs collection, Fond 558 is the filing cabinet dedicated to materials about Joseph Stalin; it contains approximately 40,000 unique documents. Yale University Press (YUP) and RGASPI have chosen to include only selected documents from this section of the physical archive, for a total of 28,000 unique documents comprising 404,000 scanned page images. Currently less than 3% of the archive has been uploaded into the archive database. The database will be continuously updated with newly scanned files. Users can check the status of updates in the News & Updates section of the website.
1.1.2 Opis
Each fond in RGASPIs collection contains a number of opisi, the functional equivalent of a filing cabinets drawers (to extend the analogy introduced above). Each opis in Fond 558 organizes the materials about Joseph Stalin based on content, chronology, or some combination of those two categories. YUP and RGASPI have chosen to concentrate on making available a subset of opisi in Fond 558 containing the most noteworthy documents. These opisi are:
Stalin Digital Archive User Guide Opis 1: Documents written by Stalin from 18891952. Opis 2: Documents written by Stalin from 19111944. Opis 3: Over 300 books from Stalin's personal library with his marginalia. Opis 4: Stalin's biographical materials. Opis 11: Stalin's correspondence and 188 maps with Stalin's hand-written markings. This Opis covers the period from 1917 to 1952.
Although the digitization process is not yet complete, the SDA will soon contain a complete set of bibliographic records and scanned images for these opisi, excluding only materials classified by the Russian state government.
1.1.3 Delo
Extending the analogy introduced above, each delo corresponds to an individual folder within the filing cabinets (fonds) drawers (opisi). As is true of all folders in general, some dela contain loose pages with no further organizing structure and some contain pages collected into discrete documents. This structure has been carried over from RGASPIs organizational structure into the SDA, just like the fond and opisi divisions; the editors have included all declassified dela contained in the five opisi from Fond 558 listed above.
1.1.4 Document
As mentioned above, some dela contain loose pages with no further organizing structure while others contain pages collected into discrete documents. When a delo falls into the latter category, the SDAs editors have preserved the distinction between individual documents present in RGASPIs organizational structure. The SDA contains all declassified documents within dela located inside those five opisi from Fond 558.
Stalin Digital Archive User Guide augment discoverability. (NOTE: All of these documents exist in translation.) For example, users can also find a 1942 letter from Molotov to Stalin that appears in an AOC volume via a bibliographic record indicating that specific documents author (Molotov), recipient (Stalin), and date (1942) outside its context within an existing AOC volume.
If you are sure that your institution has access to the SDA and you still do not see this access message, please log in to your institutional Virtual Private Network (VPN) or relocate to another computer within your institution's network. If you would like to request institutional trial access to the site, please send an email to support@stalindigitalarchive.com or fill out the information request form at http://www.yalebooks.com/sda/. In addition to the Access text, a user with an institutional subscription will see a Log In button and a Register button in the top right corner of the screen. First time users must create a profile before they are able to access the bookmarks, tags and annotations within the Document Viewer and all of the MySDA functionality. To create a new SDA account: 1) Click the Register button in the top right corner of the screen. 2) Fill out the required fields in the resulting Create a New Profile page (Figure 1). 3) Click on the Save and Continue button at the bottom of the screen.
Stalin Digital Archive User Guide 4) An automated email with a username, password, and a link for a one-time login will be sent to the users email address. Open this email and click on the one-time login link. 5) Reset the password, and fill out any other relevant profile information.
Figure 1 the Create a New Profile page After creating a valid MySDA profile, users can log in to the SDA at any time, as long as they are within the network of their subscribing institution.
Figure 2 the Search In drop-down menu A list of the possible Search in options and their definitions follow: All: The search term can appear in any context (unconstrained). Annotations: The search term can only appear in user-generated annotations associated with a document. Authors: The search term can only appear in a document authors name. ID#: The search term can only appear in a documents archival identification number. NOTE: Users should employ the following format when searching for a specific document by archival identification number, paying special attention to add a single space after each comma: f.558, op.11, d.1, doc.1 Please note that the search tool is not case-sensitive. Publication dates: The search term can only appear in a documents publication date. Recipients: The search term can only appear in a document recipients name. Subjects: The search term can only appear in a documents subject designations. Tags: The search term can only appear in user-generated tags associated with a document. Text: The search term can only appear in a documents full-text transcription or translation, if available. Titles: The search term can only appear in a documents title. Please note that all searches are language-specific, except for author and recipient searches (i.e., searches constrained to author and recipient fields will return both English and Russian matches regardless of the language of the search term.) 7
Users can also conduct a faceted search by using the filters in the left-hand panel (Figure 3a).
Figure 3a Search Filter Options A list of possible search filters and their definitions follow: Collections: Filters results to specific collections in the SDA. These include: titles in the YUPs Annals of Communism series; translated primary documents contained in the Annals of Communism series; and RGASPIs primary documents. Users can further constrain RGASPI documents by fond, opis, and delo. Keyword: Adds additional keywords to the search parameters. Names: Filters results using names of document authors and recipients. The list of names contained within the archive has been alphabetized in both Russian and English. Date: Filters results by specific date or date range (Figure 3b). Subjects: Filters results based on subject designation. Currently, these subject designations are only in Russian. Tags: Filters results based on user-generated tags.
The Date Range filter allows users to constrain a search by a specific date or date range.
Figure 3b The Date Range Search Filter After entering all desired constraints to the search parameters, click on the Search button to conduct the search. NOTE: Users can also re-conduct recent searches and saved searches via the appropriate tabs at the bottom of the left-hand panel (Please see Figure 9 for an illustration of how to save a search).
Figure 4 List View Users can adjust the view of the search results list by toggling between the three View As buttons, located in the top panel. The three view options are List View, Detail View, and Thumbnail View. The default view for the search results panel is List View. In this view, the resulting documents appear in a sortable grid, with each piece of bibliographic information appearing in a separate column. Users can customize which bibliographic fields appear in the grid by selecting the View Options menu above the results list (Figure 5). Clicking on the row of one of the titles will populate the Preview panel on the far right of the screen with the relevant documents thumbnail and bibliographic data.
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Figure 5 The View Options Menu Detail View displays both the thumbnail image and a range of bibliographic metadata for each document in the results list. Clicking on the hyperlinked tags or subjects will conduct a search that uses the selected item as the primary search constraint (Figure 6).
Figure 6 Detail View Thumbnail View displays the thumbnail image and a limited amount of bibliographic data for each document in the results list (Figure 7). Click on More Info beneath a documents thumbnail image for a more detailed presentation of the documents bibliographic information. 11
Figure 7 Thumbnail View Users can re-sort the results list in any view by using the Sort by drop-down menu (Figure 8). In List View, users can also sort the results alphabetically or reversealphabetically in both English and Russian by clicking on the header of any column.
Sort by Options
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Stalin Digital Archive User Guide Open a document by clicking the Open button (which appears in both the search results list and in the right-hand preview panel), the thumbnail image, or the title of the document. Please note that the document viewer will only display one document at a time. Users can generate academic citations for search results by using the Export Citation button in the top panel; check the box to the left of the desired title(s) and click on Export. Users can also save one or more documents to their library by selecting the appropriate checkboxes and clicking on the Save to My Documents button. Finally, users can save a set of search parameters for future use by clicking on the Save Search button in the top panel (Figure 9).
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3.2. Browse
The Browse page allows users to explore the sites contents by categories reflecting bibliographic information about documents, or by information about how site users are working with documents. The Browse function is analogous to browsing the stacks of a library, while the Search function is analogous to looking for a specific book in a card catalogue. Navigate to the Browse page by clicking the Browse tab below the site banner. The center panel displays the 50 most-viewed documents by default. A list of browsing categories appears in the left-hand panel (Figure 10).
Browsing Categories
Figure 10 Browse (list view) The browsing categories are: Most-Viewed: Provides a result list of the SDAs most popular documents based on usage statistics. Most-Searched Terms: Provides a list of popular search terms based on usage statistics. Selecting one of these search terms will populate the center panel of the screen with the corresponding list of documents. Popular Tags: Provides a list of popular tags based on usage statistics. Selecting one of these tags will populate the center panel of the screen with the corresponding list of documents. Editors Picks: Provides a list of documents selected by SDA editors. This list will be updated regularly to highlight new, important, newsworthy, or otherwise notable content. 14
Stalin Digital Archive User Guide Collections: Provides access to documents as organized in the RGASPI and Annals of Communism collections. Names: Provides a list of names (including people, organizations, and institutions) from archive documents, and populates the result list with documents written either by or to a person or entity (Figure 11). These names are available in both English and Russian. Timeline: Provides a list of relevant time periods between the years 1890 and 1991. Selecting a time period will populate the center panel with the corresponding list of documents. Subjects: Provides a list of subjects from an alphabetized list. Selecting a subject will populate the center panel with the corresponding list of documents.
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Figure 13 the Image Viewer A modified image viewer toolbar appears when users view an image in full-screen. The full-screen toolbar features a pair of left and right buttons, which allow users to move between images, as well as a play button, which allows users to cycle through images as in a slideshow. Buttons on the left side of the toolbar allow users to pan around an image; zoom in on an image by drawing a rectangle over a particular section; or zoom in/out of an image by clicking on + or - (Figure 14). To bookmark, tag, or annotate an image, exit out of full screen mode by clicking on the appropriate button, and click on the bookmark, tag, or annotation button in the image viewer toolbar.
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Stalin Digital Archive User Guide Bookmark Button: Allows users to create a private bookmark referencing a particular section of the text. Tag Button: Allows users to create public or private tags referencing a particular section of the text. Annotation Button: Allows users to create public or private annotations referencing a particular section of the text. Highlight Button: Allows users to highlight specific passages of the text. Users can remove highlighting by re-selecting a portion of the text that has been highlighted, and clicking on the Highlight button.
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Figure 16 The Document Info Panel The different sections of the document info panel are: Keyword Search Box: Allows users to conduct a full-text keyword search of an open documents content, including text and annotations. Conduct a keyword search b y entering a term into the textbox at the top of the document info panel. Document Details: Displays a documents bibliographic information, including title, author, date, archival ID number, etc. User Ratings: Displays a documents collective user rating, from one to five stars. Tags: Displays private and public tags associated with an open document. Users can edit or delete their own private or public tags, but they cannot edit or delete public tags created by other users. Annotations: Displays private and public annotations associated with an open document. Users can edit or delete their own private or public annotations, but they cannot edit or delete public annotations created by others users. Users can also report inappropriate annotations to the SDA Administrator by clicking on the Report button.
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Stalin Digital Archive User Guide NOTE: Certain annotations will contain a green SDA Editor Approved icon above their content. These annotations were either written or approved by one of the archives editorial board members. Bookmarks: Displays private and public bookmarks associated with an open document. Users can edit or delete their own private bookmarks, but they cannot edit or delete public bookmarks created by the SDA Editorial staff. Users can share private bookmarks by clicking on the chain icon and copying the accompanying URL. Please note that only SDA Editorial Board members can create public bookmarks. NOTE: Clicking on any bookmark, tag or annotation in the document info panel will take the user directly to the relevant section of the document. Similarly, clicking on a bookmark, tag or annotation icon in a texts margins will open that bookmark, tag or annotation in the document info panel. Discussions: Displays the three most recent discussion board threads related to a current document. Click the Start Discussion button to create a new thread referencing the open document.
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4.0 MySDA
MySDA is the sites center for personalized content and community interaction, and is accessible via the MySDA tab at the top of the screen.
4.2 Notifications
The Notifications area of MySDA displays updates from both administrators and fellow SDA members. Notifications cover such topics as additions to the digitized archive, new discussion topics for Research Interest Groups, and other updates related to a users personal account and/or the general functionality of the site.
Research Interests are thematically organized groups that enable scholars to share documents and participate in discussions. Each Research Interest has a corresponding forum in which participating users can discuss relevant topics and documents. Users must join a Research Interest before they can participate in its forum. Each Research Interest has its own group page. To access this page, click on the title of the relevant Research Interest on the Research Interests home page. A Research Interest group page contains a group description, recent discussions, recently shared documents, recent public annotations and tags, and a list of current members.
Figure 18 The Research Interests Homepage Users can also join a Research Interest from that Research Interests group page.
Stalin Digital Archive User Guide 4. Click on the Create New Research Interest button at the top of the Research Interests homepage. 5. Enter the group name and description, and click Create Group. NOTE: A user cannot edit or delete a Research Interest once it has been created.
There are two types of discussion forums: General Forums and Research Interest Forums. General Forums appear on the top part of the Discussion Forums list and are not associated with any specific Research Interest. Any registered user can participate in or create a General Forum. To create a General Forum, click on the Create New Forum, button and provide a name and description. NOTE: Every Research Interest has a corresponding forum. A user must first belong to a Research Interest before participating in its discussion forum.
To create a new a post, click on Reply to this topic and type a reply into the textbox. Click on Link to Document to attach a document from a personal library to the post. Finally, click on Post to add the reply to the topic thread. Users can delete their own posts, but they cannot delete posts created by other users. Users can also report inappropriate posts to the SDA administrator by clicking on the Report Post link in the bottom-right corner of each post (Figure 20).
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NOTE: When creating a new topic, a user must add a new topic title and opening message.
4.5 Library
The MySDA Library enables users to save and share documents from the archive. Personal Folders enable users to view and manage documents they have saved for their own personal research. Public Folders allow users to share documents with other members of related Research Interest groups. To access the MySDA library, go to the MySDA homepage and click on the Personal Folders or Public Folders tab in the Library section of the left-hand navigation panel.
To save a document from the Document Viewer: 1. Open a document in the Viewer and click the Save button in the document viewer toolbar. 2. Follow steps 3 and 4 as outlined above.
4.5.2 Managing and Sharing Documents in the MySDA Library In the Library section of MySDA, users can create new folders, rename existing folders, create and edit folder descriptions, sort folders by various criteria, and delete individual folders (and the documents contained within). Click on a personal or public folders title to view the list of documents contained within (Figure 22). Clicking on the title of a document will open it in the viewer. Buttons at the top of the folders screen allow users to export academic citations or user-generated annotations on selected documents; copy or move documents from one folder to another; or remove a document from the current folder. Users can also adjust the view of the document list by using the View Options and Sort by drop-down menus on the right side of the screen. NOTE: Users cannot copy, move, or delete documents contained in a public folder.
Figure 22 My Library
To share a saved document from a personal folder with a public folder, go to a Research Interest group page and click the Share Document button under the Recently Shared Documents header (Figure 23). Publicly shared documents can be accessed by any member of the appropriate Research Interest group.
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Figure 23 Sharing Documents NOTE: Users must belong to a Research Interest before they can share a document within that Research Interests public folder.
4.6.1 My Profile
The My Profile page displays a users public profile, and is accessible via the MySDA left-hand navigation panel. The My Profile page displays basic biographical information (e.g. name, email address, academic institution, about me, etc.) as well as site usage information (e.g. Research Interest groups to which a user belongs, tags and annotations created by a user, etc. ). To edit the My Profile page: 1. Click the Manage Account button in the top right-hand corner of the screen. 2. Click the Edit tab. 3. Update the relevant profile fields. 4. Click Apply at the bottom of the screen. NOTE: Users can set their email address to public or private. When a user selects private, his or her email address is hidden from all other users on the site.
4.7 My Annotations
Users can organize and manage their private and public annotations via the My Annotations tab, available in the MySDA left-hand navigation panel. This page allows users to sort annotations by document title, date shared, or date created; export selected annotations to a text file or browser tab; edit annotations; and delete annotations.
4.8 My Tags
Users can organize and manage their personal and public tags via the My Tags tab, available in the MySDA left-hand navigation panel. The My Tags page displays a list of tags created by the user (Figure 24). The number in parentheses that follows each tag indicates how many times the user has applied that tag throughout the archive. Clicking on the grey arrow before a tag name will reveal the other tags with which the initial tag shares a document. Users can rename tags by clicking the Rename Tag button at the top of the screen, selecting the desired tag from a drop-down menu, entering a new name, and clicking Apply.
The tags Green_Passages and Yezhov appear in the same document in which the tag Immigration appears.
Figure 24 My Tags Click on the tag name to see a list of documents in which a tag appears. Click on the title of a document in the resulting list to open the document in the viewer and to highlight the appropriate tag in the document info panel.
Stalin Digital Archive User Guide or rename their searches via the Create button in the Search Name column; or delete searches by clicking the Remove button. Thank you for your interest in the Stalin Digital Archive. If you have any questions or concerns about the User Manual, the website, or anything else related to the archive, please send an email to the SDA Support Team at support@stalindigitalarchive.com.
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