Further Research, Tips & Tricks

Search Terms:

If you know anything about the year 1917, you know that it was a little more complicated than the name “Russian revolution” suggests. The name actually refers to a pair of events: first, there was the “February revolution” in which the Russian monarchy fell to the provisional government and later that year there was the “October revolution” in which the provisional government fell to the Bolsheviks who installed a new Soviet government.

Both of these events have multiple names and you should consider including the alternative names in your searches. An example of an effective boolean search would be “october revolution” OR “bolshevik revolution” AND “parade marches.”

Be aware that Soviet historiography has very specific terms for events so if you are searching for information published in the Soviet Union, you should consider including the official Soviet name for the event. For example “february revolution” OR “february bourgeois democratic revolution” AND “parade marches.” See information below on searching in foreign languages.

Subject Search

A great feature of Harvard's catalog is that it allows you to search by subject term. If you want to browse through Harvard's holdings try these subject terms:

• Soviet Union -- History -- Revolution, 1917-1921
• Revolutionaries -- Russia
• Revolutionaries -- Russia -- Biography

Foreign-language searching:

To browse or search for materials in Harvard University Library’s online discovery system, HOLLIS+, convert your search terms to Library of Congress Transliteration before conducting your search. One of the best online transliteration tools can be found here. This site offers Russian language transliteration as well as transliteration into other Slavic languages. Be sure to select “ALA-LC” from the drop-down menu on the right-hand side to perform a Library of Congress transliteration conversion.

Example: Don’t search: “Уличные фестивали” AND “Октябрьская революция”

Instead search: “Ulichnye festivali” AND “Okti͡abrʹskai͡a revoli͡ut͡sii͡a”

Special Collections Research:

In order to view most materials from archival collections at Harvard, you are required to have a Harvard College Library Special Collections Request Account. You can register for an account here. A step-by-step guide to registering, requesting materials, and managing your requests can be found here. In order to see materials you have requested, you will have to visit the reading room of the library where your materials are housed. For example, the Trotsky papers are housed at Houghton Library and can only be viewed from their reading room. It’s a good idea to check the library’s hours before showing up to make sure you’ll have ample time to receive and look over your requested materials.

A quick video on the proper handling of special collections can be found here.