The Documentation Collection

The documentation collection includes single documents that have no connection with an archive, like flyers, broadsheets, sheet music, mimeographs. The documents may contain announcements of events, records of meetings, poems, strike calls et cetera. Such a document may be the one and only remaining vestige of human activity in the past. Usually it helps to create an image of an organization or person.
The documentation collection includes documents from all European countries, Russia, the American continent and many countries in Asia and Africa. International organizations form a separate category.

Arrangement

In the first stage, the documents were sorted out according to the country of their provenance. Documents from organizations in exile have been placed in the country where the organization was established.

In the second stage, the documents were arranged according to categories, e.g. France/solidarity movements. See list of categories.

In the third stage, the documents were arranged according to the organization or person of provenance, e.g. France/solidarity movements/Comité Antifasciste de Créteil. Anonymous documents have been placed in a general compartment within the country of provenance and category.

Search

The new IISH search platform enables to search the documentation collection (as well as all other collections at the IISH) in different ways. Three examples are given below:

Query 1
Go to IISH search platform.
Choose 'advanced search' in 'IISH Collections' box.
Select material type 'Documentation material'.
Type 'Spain' in the search field.
You will find a review of the categories and the documentation re to Spain. Organizations of Spanish exiles and committees campaigning for Spain in other countries are mentioned here as well.

Query 2
Go to IISH search platform.
Choose 'advanced search' in 'IISH Collections' box.
Select material type 'Documentation material'.
Type 'songs' in the search field.
You will find a countrywise review of music sheets materials in the Documentation Collection.

Query 3
Go to IISH search platform.
Choose 'advanced search' in 'IISH Collections' box.
Select material type 'Documentation material'.
Type 'Russian Federation' and 'elections' in the search field.
You will find a review of Russian elections since 1989 and the broadsheets pertaining to them.

Admission to the documentation collection is free. Documents are to be consulted in the reading room only.
See Services for information on how to consult collections.