A Story of Foreign Literature Supply to Ukrainian Researchers of in 30s of the 20th Century

Abstract

The rapidly developing science sector on the Ukrainian territory in 30s of the past century did not always have an adequate information support, especially due to the shortage of foreign scientific literature and periodicals. Foreign literature at that time used to be received by Ukrainian researchers via several channels: (i) the library of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Ukraine and scientific libraries at higher education institutions; (ii) membership in foreign scientific societies; (iii) the centralized book department. In 1931—1937, more than 100 scientists of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Ukraine, research fellows of research institutes and higher education institutions had membership in foreign scientific societies. Soviet (including Ukrainian) scientists were intensively publishing in foreign scientific periodicals in that period. However, 1930s saw a new soviet policy on international scientific relations, aimed at their restriction, including by use of financial levers. The article introduces a series of achieve documents: letters of scientists to administrations of research organizations with the request of financial support to the international scientific cooperation, namely with the request to pay membership fees to foreign scientific societies, in order to make the scientists eligible for the reception of foreign editions; letters of scientists to administrations with the request of helping subscribe to foreign professional literature.