Newspapers of the Russian Diaspora – Chronicling the Creation of a Unique Preservation Initiative

Abstrakt

The article presents the creation and development of the Russia Abroad Digital Collection (RADC) at the Hoover Institution Library & Archives at Stanford University – a groundbreaking digital initiative aimed at preserving and providing global open access to the press of the Russian diaspora from 1917 to 1991. Built on Hoover’s extensive holdings and developed in collaboration with leading libraries and archives, including the Slovanská knihovna in Prague, the project constitutes the most comprehensive digital repository of Russian émigré newspapers to date. The author discusses the origins of the project, the digitization process, the scope of the collections, and the scholarly value of this initiative for research on the cultural, political, and social life of the Russian emigration. Particular attention is paid to the international partnerships that make the RADC a model of transnational collaboration in the field of digital preservation.