Saturday May 9 - Wednesday May 12 - Moscow

Saturday, May 9. This is a big holiday--Victory Day (the end of World War II). I spend the morning working on my travel report. One sign on the street that this is a "genuine" holiday is that very few vendors are active on the street. I spend the evening with Evgenii Kuzmin and his family, which is very pleasant.

Sunday, May 10. The weather is Moscow today is beautiful--so I spend the day walking about Moscow. I visit Izmailovskii park, which is astonishing. It is hard to comprehend so many people trying to sell so much stuff in one place (and so much of it the exact same stuff), The matrioshka dolls and Palekh boxes are now made in such a rush that none are even vaguely attractive. When I talk to some of the vendors (some of the older ones are willing to simply talk--most of the younger ones are too busy with their friends) they admit that the whole situation is completely crazy, but they claim to have other jobs (Izmailovskii is only like this on the weekend) and that they feel compelled by circumstances to earn as much as possible whenever possible.

Monday, May 11. This is a holiday (the Russian government now has a law similar to the US--if the holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday is now officially a holiday as well. I spend the day working on various memos that I will need to distribute upon my return to Washington and on my travel report.

Tuesday, May 12. Last day working in the Moscow Acquisitions office. I meet Yakov Shreiberg of the Russian State Public Library of Scientific and Technical Information. He explains that library's plans to create a special reading room that will contain special resources for use by "businessmen'' (for a fee). I try to explain certain concerns that American librarians have with fee-for-service, but he is unconvinced. I also talk with Gennadii Popov of the Knizhnaia palata, who arrives to retrieve a fax sent via Dr. Levner from CDS.

Wednesday, May 12 to. Saturday, May 16. The last three days of the week I have annual leave, and pursue various tourist-like activities. On Saturday morning I am driven to the airport by Sergei and Elena Yegorov, who had entertained me the night before. The past four weeks have been useful, I hope, for the Library of Congress, and I have enjoyed myself immensely in the process.

~~~~~~

I can't seem to find any evidence that I took a camera in 1992, which is too bad (I suppose). People visiting Izmailovskii Park today find acres of smaller stands but also many larger structures that were build as "attractions" of various sorts and to make the place seem more historic somehow. In 1992 it was more where people went out of almost desperation, hoping to sell things they no longer needed to earn money to buy necessities. It quickly became a tourist destination, but it seemed sad when tourists try to drive hard bargains with people in the situation the Russians were in then. Izmailovskii Park in 2015 - the same, but different (this was early, before most people arrived)

Thursday May 7, Friday May 8 - Moscow

Thursday, May 7 and Friday, May 8. I have a very nice apartment made available to me for the remainder of my stay in Moscow. At the office, among other things I help open the day's mail. This is quite interesting--an astonishing number of subscription items arrive with enclosed letters with proposals of all kinds. A publisher of one newspaper simply writes saying that she needs money--therefore, if we have any extra, we should send it as soon as possible.

We visit the offices of SovAm teleport to straighten out some changes that have been made in the protocols for logging onto email. Here I again see a demonstration of the kind of security that is widespread in the former Soviet Union--we must call in advance the office we wish to visit in advance, so that our names will be given to a militiaman at the building's entrance. In this case, he is a very large militiaman, so I am glad we meet with his approval.

Otherwise I meet with many different people who come by the office, including Boris Belinkin of Memorial and Olga Krasnikova, who is the acquisitions librarian for BEN. Dr. Levner and I also visit Knizhnyi mir, where there are even fewer books for sale than during Levner's last visit only two months ago. We meet Olga Pokhlomkina, who is the person at the store who used to manage the sales of books from the republics of the FSU. She admits that there is virtually no activity now in this area.

~~~~~~

The availability of SovAm Teleport to provide email access for the Library of Congress operation/office in Moscow was important as a way of making regular acquisitions and other activities possible - both in the sense of being economical and efficient. I think for the first few years of the 1990s, it was a little complicated to use, but it was far better than sending international faxes, which was the only real alternative. The email access was not available for some time anywhere other than the Moscow Office - we didn't have access to any email while traveling in the various countries, for example. It is hard to imagine now, but there was no dialup access to some server from which we might have telnet to our email services while we were traveling. At that time, the only way I could access my email was to be at work in Washington.

Wednesday May 6 - Return to Moscow

Wednesday, May 6. We return to Moscow by air. Both Dr. Levner and I are satisfied with the results of our travel in the FSU. Levner confides that he himself would never travel to so many former republics one after another, but that despite his misgivings we have done well.

~~~~~~

Afterwards I was too busy writing up the results of the trip and with other work, having been gone for a month, to investigate some of the questions I should have had about this trip, but apparently I mostly just didn't give them much thought. We submitted a "country clearance" request for travel to these countries to the Department of State - did they really consult with the relevant embassies to inform them we were coming? I am a little doubtful. I remember contacting the US embassy in Minsk (or at least trying to) and finding it not particularly useful, so after that I didn't bother to try to check in with the local embassy upon arrival in each country. (This was all before one carried around a mobile phone, so checking in by phone was a little more tedious than it might seem. I had all the embassy phone numbers with me just in case.)

Tuesday May 5 - Tbilisi

Tuesday, May 5. We have our last formal visit to an exchange partner today, the Georgian National Library. Tiemuraz, who spent much of yesterday escorting us, demonstrates the work that his programmers have accomplished. Although it is somewhat a shame that he has spent so much time reinventing the wheel (or "rediscovering America" as the Russians say) it is impressive nevertheless, given that his total resources include only three PCs. The system developed is already being used for some technical services, and the ability of the system to print cards from UNIMARC data seems good.

The meeting with the Director follows the general format of such meetings so far, with the difference that a rather large audience (apparently all the libarians working with foreign materials) are also invited. Many have questions before I begin the presentation, but as often was the case, once the presentation was completed there were very few questions. After the meetings, the director invited in more staff members and I talked briefly about librarianship, librarian education and other related matters (I had been warned to expect to give such a talk the day before) and answered questions about LC. This was followed by lunch and many toasts (but not too many). We eventually left, explaining that today was our last day in Tbilisi and that we were expected to see some of the sights. We spent the afternoon touring nearby churches with Dr. Lenver's friend, Guram. On the return route to the city we stopped for dinner at a roadside restaurant. The food was very good, especially given the somewhat dubious appearance of this place.

In one respect Tbilisi was the low point of the trip—we were so busy that we didn't even have time to walk around the city during the day! We didn't have time to visit a bookstore, for example. So this is one case where the hurry-up aspect of my trip seems to be somewhat overdone.

Monday May 4 - Tbilisi

Monday, May 4. In the morning we are contacted by Teimuraz Chkhenkeli of the National Library, who escorts us the "Techinformi", the Georgian Research Institute for Scientific and Technical Information. This organization is already operating in many respects as the parliamentary library, and has been for about three years. I do not have a packet for them (since a visit to this organization was not planned) but Dr. Levner run through an abbreviated version of my presentation and we agree that they will get copies of the documentation from the National Library.

After this meeting, Tiemuraz takes us to the University Library. This library made the greatest impression on me of all those visited (although the proposed new building for the Belarus National library was the most amazing--but it has yet to be built). This building is over 240,000 square meters, which is huge. It is located above the center of the city with a delightful view, but remote from the bulk of the students. A shuttle bus service that was established was canceled once the price of gasoline began to climb (it is now 16 rubles per liter here). There were huge areas of empty space in the building—one completely empty room could have easily housed several tennis courts. There was no explanation for this supplied, but the distance from the students means that for the time being, the facility is almost completely unused (we visited several enormous reading rooms--by far the largest I saw in the FSU--with no students in them).

This was a relatively quick visit--we proceed to third visit of the day at the Academy of Sciences Library. We have a warm reception here because the staff are friendly with Dr. Levner. The director here (as the directors have at all the Academy of Sciences libraries) complains bitterly about the absence of hard currency for serial subscriptions. He notes that Mezhkniga actually offered to subscribe in rubles, but that the cost would have been more than 13 million rubles. Even exchange is becoming almost prohibitively expensive--he estimates that it will cost two million rubles for his library in 1992 (including materials purchased for partners and postage). The director gives us a tour of his relatively new building. Unfortunately it has suffered significant earthquake damage. Large windows above the main reading room shattered, and are impossible to replace (at least for the time being) so the reading room is closed. Also, large slabs of marble in various locations simply fell of the walls (fortunately missing the fleeing staff).

We return to the hotel on foot, accompanied by Guram, who is a close friend of Dr. Levner. After a brief rest period, we walk down Rustaveli Avenue. The area in the center of town again amazes us--the level of destruction is quite complete, with about six building completely burnt out. Reconstruction has already begun.

Sunday May 3 - Tbilisi

Sunday, May 3. We have an early train to Tbilisi to catch. Karafet from the Academy of Sciences library appears as agreed with a taxi to take us to the train station. The taxi driver, apparently assuming that all the rest Yerevan is still asleep at 7 am drives through 7 stop lights enroute (without slowing down).

Unfortunately there was no need for the rush--the train will be four hours late, having arrived late from Moscow (it must traverse rather dangerous areas in Georgia north of Tbilisi, where we will get off, and is often delayed. Several days after we return to Moscow, a bridge is blown up, so we are lucky that we traveled earlier than our original plan.) Since Karafet lives several blocks from the station, we are invited over for breakfast, which his mother prepares. The food is delicious-more Armenian lavash, "greens," rice "plov" and some sampling of vodka made from nuts (a bit early in the day, but tasty nevertheless). One pleasant aspect of both Armenia and Georgia is that all the vegetables I eat are absolutely fresh and actually have flavor, unlike American vegetables which have lost any they may have had in transit. We spend time watching Karafet's favorite American movie, The Blues Brothers (with voiceover in Russian). Karafet's home is also quite amazing. Because it is older, it has very thick walls (more than a foot), which keep it cool in summer and warm in winter. It also has a substantial back yard, where grapes are grown.

Eventually we catch the train, which meanders slowly towards Tbilisi. We pass through Spitak, the Armenian town that was the epicenter of the earthquake three years ago. It has yet to be completely rebuilt, and there is plenty of (presumably) temporary housing, such as yurts and shipping containers with windows and doors added. At the border, an Armenian enters (in civilian clothes) and announces that he is Armenian customs--he looks in the empty space above the door (where someone could hide), then leaves. There is no Georgian equivalent. We arrive in Tbilisi after the "komandantskii chas" (curfew). Oddly an intourist representative has waited at the station to tell us this, insisting that we are now stuck for the night at the train station. The train station seems an unfriendly place, however, with its "politsiia" patrolling with Kalashnikov machine guns. Therefore Levner strikes a deal with a car and driver and fifteen minutes after arrival at the train station we are at the hotel Iveria.

~~~~~~

I didn't think much about some of the odd aspects of this trip at the time. Why, for example, did the Intourist representative wait several hours at the train station for us so that he was then, in his view, stuck there overnight? I suppose he had nothing better to do, and we were apparently pretty unusual international travelers at this point, arriving in that way from Yerevan. I remember we talked to the heavily armed police patrolling the train station. It is hard to believe, but I think we were the only two people to get off the train upon arrival. Naturally the police wanted to talk to us and inspect our "documents" (passports) - we identified ourselves as librarians from Washington and Moscow. They laughed and suggested we come up with a more believable story. We ended up giving the Intourist representative a ride to the hotel - at that point, the hotel put him up for the rest of the night. He seemed to take the curfew quite seriously.

Saturday May 2 - Yerevan

Saturday, May 2. The partners here agreed among themselves how to structure our visit--and they decided that one partner per day is enough, thus today we visit the University Library. The director, Mr. Aslanian, meets us at our hotel and takes us to his library. A new building for the library is being built directly behind the existing one. He notes that the university itself is starting to charge tuition--the idea seems to be that tuition should cover operating costs while capital costs will be paid for by the government. All publications from the University are now in Armenian except for those of the Russian literature and language department. This meeting was somewhat unusual because the exchange department representative insisted on my speaking English--however I had done the presentation so many times in Russian that this was actually more difficult.

At this meeting, as at many of the preceding, I again observe that the exchange specialists at these libraries are often very concerned with balancing the exchange. Oddly, however, there is no penalty for them if the exchange is not in balance. Here the exchange specialist admits that she has occasionally sent materials from other publishers (which we should get from other sources) in order to balance the exchange. I point out that E&G is aware of the difficult times that Armenia is having and that LC is not overly concerned in the short run about an imbalance in the exchange.

After this meeting, we have a brief pause around the table for food and drink (with toasts) and then we are off for a tour of the sites near Yerevan in the University Library's van. On the return to the city we are dropped of at Nerses' home, where we have been invited for dinner. Nerses' house has been built in the last two years. It is on the outskirts of the city, and in fact Nerses has farmland as well (the land in Armenia has been privatized). Nerses tells us that his income as the third ranking official at the National Library is 1,000 rubles a month-but it is obvious that his income from his land (planted in grapes) is his real wealth. There is also a substantial area behind the house which is entirely involved in agricultural production, including chickens and makes vodka out of grapes that we sample. The food is excellent, such as dolma (stuffed grape leaves).

Friday May 1 - Yerevan

Friday, May 1. Fortunately the "May Day" holiday was abolished in Armenia, so our visit is not a problem in this regard. Nerses of the National Library and Karafet of the Academy of Sciences Library meet us at the hotel and take us by Metro to the Academy of Sciences library (at all our meetings in Armenia there were always representatives of the other two major libraries--don't know why).

Because Karafet has already heard the first half of my presentation at the ''all-Armenia" meeting the previous day, the meeting is somewhat lacking in form. The director complains at length about the total absence of hard currency for serial subscriptions (previously they spent $220,000 per year). He asks that I call AAAS and transmit some information (which I am given) to them upon my return (which I do). The problem as he explains it is that the government refuses to give such a sum for subscriptions when so much hard currency is still needed for earthquake recovery. A deputy points out that given the state of publishing in Armenia it may be a mistake for the Libary of Congress to not collect preprints--she maintains that many preprints that previously would have been published in a more authoritative version are not being published now because of the paper shortage and other problems.

After this meeting we (including Nerses and Anahid of the National Library and Karafet of the Academy of Sciences) walk to the Matenadaran to deliver a letter from Dr. Billington. We are received by the director (this meeting is described in a "for the record memo, appendix ). After our meeting we are given a tour of the materials that are on the display, which is very interesting.

Following this we travel via overloaded trolley to the offices of the Republican newspaper, where Nerses, Dr. Levner and I are interviewed concerning our "mission" in Armenia. Again there is a power failure, and we can hear people who are trapped in the elevator as we leave (in this 16 story building). On the way to our hotel we stop at a cooperative restaurant and have an early dinner. The prices at this restaurant do not seem much higher than those at the state-run restaurant we visited the day before, unlike Moscow where the difference is enormous.

On the street, we are much less able to assess LC's collection of Armenian serials, since virtually all are in Armenian (neither Levner nor I can read Armenian at all). In one odd instance, Levner strikes up a conversation with a woman newspaper vendor who admits that she cannot read Armenia either-although she is an Armenian, speaks Armenian, and sells Armenian newspapers. She could, however, read and speak Russian. One hopes that this is a rather rare situation. The country as a whole is the most homogeneous in the FSU--with the smallest Russian presence.

Thursday April 30 - Yerevan

Thursday, April 30. In the morning we walk to the Hotel Dvin to straighten out our train tickets to Tbilisi. This hotel has had a fire recently, and looks awful--one side is completely bricked up on the ground level. Apparently during the winter there was no gas, and as a result, electric resistence heat (ie, small space heaters) was widely used (between brownouts), but these heaters are considerable fire hazards. My hotel room had a burn in the carpet where such a heater had obviously tipped over. Yerevan unfortunately looked on the face of it to be in the worst condition of all the cities visited so far . One theme I noticed was that in each city I visited, eventually someone would say, "here in xxx we have it the worst." And in each place, this person would be right. In Moscow, they have it the worst: they have fallen the furthest in their standard of living. In Belarus, they have it the worst: they received the brunt of Chernobyl. In Moldova: they are fighting a civil war. And here in Armenia they were still recovering from the earthquake of three years ago while fighting for Nagorno-Karabakh. (And Georgia, they would speak of what seemed to them unbelievable: Georgians shooting Georgians.) There are apparently huge unemployment and underemployment problems. There are crowds of young and middle-aged men on the streets in Yerevan with apparently nothing to do. The infrastructure appears to be deterioriating. While the Metro appears in acceptable condition, the city busses and trolleys are totally overloaded. Yerevan has more cars per capita than any other city of the FSU, but traffic is low because few here can afford the price of 40 rubles per liter (compared with 17 per liter in Chisinau and 6 in Minsk and Moscow). We walk and take Metro to the National Library with Nerses. We stop at a bookstore. The most noticable attribute of the bookstores visited in Yerevan is the large proportion of Russian language materials, many quite old. Nerses explains that this is a holdover from the Soviet period. Although the bookstores are not ever going to sell much of this material, they are apparently not interested in just throwing it away. (I saw the same collection about Brezhnev in several bookstores.) At the Armenian National Library I meet the director as well as a representative of the Academy of Sciences library and the director of the University library. Thus a new technique is tried--simultaneous presentation of the first half of my presentation to three partners. This actually works fine, and is followed by a discussion of exchange issues with the appropriate National Library staff member (I will meet separately later with the Academy of Sciences library and the University Library). The answers to many of my usual questions are similar to those in the countries visited so far. The National Library does have staff who buy materials on the street. They know of fifty new "independent" publishers and are collecting there materials. The Armenian KP is doing the national bibliography in real time while the National Library is working on the retrospective version (and the National Library has plans to absorb the KP). During a tour of the Library there was a brownout--thus we had to examine the materials in the rare book room in the dark. Fortunately we were not in an elevator. Returning to our hotel we stopped for dinner (unusual) at a restaurant, the Ararat—and the food was actually quite good. Because we could not make up our minds about the vegetables, the waiter brought a huge selection of trays out for us to choose from. A small group began to play Armenian music. Very pleasant.

Wednesday April 29 - Yerevan

Wednesday, April 29. In the morning, before departure we meet with Andrei Andries, President of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Moldova. He apparently heard of our visit and wanted to reiterate the importance to Moldova of foreign scientific publications. The most useful information I can relay is connected with the AAAS initiative.

We depart by air to Kiev. The direct flight to Yerevan no longer exists, so we must transit Kiev. Since we arrive in Kiev relatively early in the day, we spend the day in the city viewing various sites (no business). At one point in Kiev I receive coupons in change for my rubles. By reflex action I object. The vendor says,"oh, you want MONEY!" Also by reflex, Levner and I scout out the newspapers in the kiosks. We buy a Belarus newspaper that we did not see in Belarus. Then we fly to Yerevan. This flight (on Air Armenia), despite being in the middle of the night, is completely full. Arriving in Yerevan we do not expect anyone will meet us, but we are wrong—Nerses Hayrapetian of the Armenian National Library is waiting for us. (However he was waiting in the "International Section," which we were unaware of until we were paged. The Intourist system, by which foreigners travel with separate ground services from natives of the Commonwealth, is still in place in all the countries that I visited.) There is a certain amount of procedural foolishness in getting into our hotel rooms at the Hotel Armenia, so agree to meet Nerses in the afternoon the next day.

~~~~~~

We flew into one of the two airports in Kyiv, the older one that is closer to the city center. I remember we rode a tram into town.

With today's airport security, it is hard to imagine, but I recall that this airport had effectively no security even though it was now sort of an international airport (but only for newly independent former Soviet states). We left our luggage at some bag check location and I remember walking through a hole in a fence around the airport - no one was even slightly concerned.

The flight to Yerevan was completely crazy, I remember that. A group of Armenian men took over the area behind the cockpit area and sat on the floor playing cards and smoking. When the plane landed at the poorly lit dark Yerevan airport (there was a national power shortage at the time) a mobile stairs unit took quite a while to show up, so the passengers opened the front door and dropped down to the runway! Never saw that before, or since.

Tuesday April 28 - Chisinau

Tuesday, April 28. Moldova. We visit the National Library of Moldova. The official business proceeds smoothly--on the question of the role of the national library as parliamentary library, this is the one former republic where the answer is clear cut. Mr. Rau, the director, mentions that he was very impressed with a presentation by William Robinson at IFLA in August, 1991. The Moldovan National Library is using the French National Library as its primary model, but regards CRS as its model for a parliamentary information service. The existing CRS-like unit already has eight employees (for ready reference). An additional unit will be needed for more detailed analysis. He notes (similar to other national libraries visited) that there is no effective copyright law. This library is automating (with no cooperation with other libraries) slowly. Some technical services are already automated. They plan to used UNIMARC. They are collecting posters and will try to collect maps eventually. They note LC's interest in these materials as will as records. They claim to be successfully collecting materials from the Dneister region (in Russian) as well as Gagauz materials, and note LC interest in them.

The building the National Library occupies was intended to house 500,000 books, but instead contains over 3 million. As a result they are double-shelving. The National Library is paying for the renovation of a neighboring building which is then to be transferred to the National Library, however there is always the possibility that another government body will grab it before they do. Also, even that building will not satisfy their space needs (this all sounds familiar). In order to decrease demand for services, the National Library no longer serves undergraduates.

We are given an invitation to return to the National Library after our meeting with the University Library in order to attend the opening of an exhibit on books and religion that takes place.

At the University of Library, the first order of business is to agree to establish an exchange with LC, which is done quickly. I run through my standard packet. At this library there is a third approach to automation, here using the "MARC program" of Popov. They note that there is some talk of this library being absorbed by the Academy of Sciences library, but this library (not surprisingly) intends to resist that initiative. One aspect of this library that is common to several of the partners we visit is that its building was not intended as a library. As a result, none of the reading rooms or other library spaces appear very functional.

We return to the National Library, where we attend exhibit opening. Afterwards there is a reception in the director's office and we meet the minister of culture (whose son is studying at the University of Wisconsin-Madison).

~~~~~~

Some days, in this retelling, seem pretty much like work. Which I guess may have been true.

Monday April 27 - Chisinau

Monday, April 27. After breakfast, we cross the street to the Academy of Sciences of Moldova Library. Dr. Levner and I express our great appreciation that they would receive us on a holiday. Again the Academy of Sciences connection helps us, in that Dr. Levner personally knows both the director and the head of acquisitions. The business-portion of the meeting proceeds successfully on the basis of the packet and handouts. The director mentions several interesting items. It is possible that the Academy of Sciences library will absorb the University library in the relatively near future. Also, she points out that although they have lost their entire hard currency budget for acquisitions, their ruble budget is basically stable. The Academy of Sciences library is the leader in automation in Moldova, with a mainframe of their own--but unfortunately not using a MARC-based format. They do have automated serials management in place. She notes that although it is well understood that Russian is more of an "international" language, that there will be more Romanian used in Moldovan scientific writings (not to mention Moldovan publishing in general). She notes that connection with Romania are strong, and that the Romanians are sending many books (especially textbooks) as assistance.

After the official business, a wide variety of homemade food is brought forth, including delicious cheese (from sheep), and wine--both homemade and "factory-made." We are told to partake especially of the Cabernet, which is supposed to cure radiation poisoning, since we just arrived from Minsk. We talk at length about librarianship in the US as well as about LC. At one point the director gets quite hot under the collar on the subject of repression by the Russians after World War II, but Levner calms the situation by pointing out that the role of librarians is to provide information and work together even in difficult times, etc.

We are taken on a tour by car of the city by the director, Ms. Gutu, and the head of acquisitions. We visit the Moldovan VDNKh (exhibit of the accomplishments of the national economy). Oddly the statue of Lenin that used to be in the center of town is stored there (you never know ... ), Because it is a holiday, there are many people here enjoying the excellent weather and the man-made lake. Dr. Levner and I appreciate the local conditions-in Minsk there were snow flurries, but here there is "genuine spring."

After our tour, we are dropped off near a theater, where there is a program in connection with Easter. We buy tickets and attend. Since the entire thing is in Romanian, we are not too clear on what is going on, but at one point the American ambassador appears on stage and delivers a speech (in Romanian) which is well received.

~~~~~~

Again, the librarians we visited went to some trouble to receive us and celebrate (if you will) our visit. Pretty cool then, pretty cool looking back.

In 1992, I did not have a laptop computer with me - such things didn't exist at the time. I had a bag progressively less full of packets of handouts - I don't recall taking along anything to read. Anyway, in a later version of reality one might venture back to the hotel to access the Internet via wifi, but at the time there was nothing to do at a hotel other than watch TV, so we were apparently more motivated to seek out entertainment (which was probably very cheap).

Sunday April 26 - Chisinau

Sunday, April 26 In the morning, before our departure, we meet with Oleg Manaev, who is one of the founders of a new organization--the Independent Institute of Social-Economic and Political Research (NISEPI). He attended the Oxford conference last year, and he has various proposals for Dr. Levner and the Library of Congress (see summary of visits). We then travel to the Minsk airport, and its time to travel to Moldova. (One of the most pleasing--and unexpected--aspects of this trip was that all flights departed within 30 minutes of scheduled departure, despite what I heard before leaving the US. This is apparently in part because the number of flights has been severely cut to more closely match the number of available aircraft.)

We arrive on Moldova on our Air Moldova flight (with Captain Petrov). At the bottom of the stairs we are met by a member of the "politsiia" (all the local "militsia" in the republics I visited have been renamed "politsiia) who checks the passports of the male passengers--an attempt to screen out possible Russians trying to sneak into Chisinau from the Dneister region, apparently). Generally, however, entry from one former republic to another is completely free. At the airport, we are met by Lidiia Gutsu and Rodika Kostash of the Academy of Sciences library. This is extremely courteous of them, since today is Easter. We are driven to the our hotel and agree to meet with them again tomorrow (which is also an official government holiday).

Once established in the hotel, Dr. Levner and I proceed to walk through the center of town, down the recently renamed bul. Stefan Cel Mare. It is almost hard to believe that the Cyrillic alphabet was once used here--there is nothing by signs with the Roman alphabet on the buildings. Unlike Minsk, which in many ways felt like a trip back in time (Lenin still stands in the square, even if they have taken his name off the street), here they have done much to remove overt signs of Soviet rule. Lenin is gone. Also, many plaques that marked signs of "RussianMoldovan friendship" have been vandalized and/or removed. We reach the park near the statue of Stefan eel Mare, where a meeting of sorts is taking place. Dr. Levner, not having been briefed to stay away from such gatherings, heads on over to see what is going on. The entire business is taking place in Romanian, and concerns activities by Russians in the Dneister and neighboring areas (they are gathered around a poster that has in the middle of it a large shell fragment). It occurs to us that this may not be a great place for Russian-speakers such as ourselves, and we return to the hotel. In one positive sign, most of the publications that we see in the kiosks are familiar to us as a result of the LC collecting efforts.

At the hotel we discover that the signs that indicate the restaurant is open to 10 is in error--there is a "Chrezvichaenoe polozhenie" (state of emergency), after all. We didn't realize that, although the amazing number of "politsiia" on the street should have given us a clue. Everything closes at 8 PM-everything. My supply of granola bars and jar of peanut butter thus keeps up from starving (this being the first meal since breakfast in Minsk, following the Levner diet).

~~~~~~

In retrospect, it was remarkable that this trip happened since the situation in several of the visited countries was nominally a "state of emergency" - looking back now, I don't understand why it wasn't called off by someone.

This was another amazing example of the gracious nature of the librarians who received us. It was purely bad planning on my part to visit at this time, with Easter in particular but also several former Soviet holidays that could or might result in problems with visits and doing business.

Saturday April 25 - Minsk

Saturday, April 25. Today we tour Minsk with Karina, a reference librarian at the Academy of Sciences library. This tour does not follow a typical tourist approach, for one thing, we travel on foot. Also, our primary goal is to visit newspaper and bookselling kiosks, etc, as well as bookstores. We manage to visit what must be the majority of such operations in downtown Minsk. The city is very quiet, but this is the day before Orthodox Easter, so it is to be expected.

We see one building that bears a sign that it is the headquarters for the working group of the Commonwealth of Independent States--this is the only we see of Minsk's status as capital of this non-country. When I hear optimistic remarks in Minsk about the future of Belarus, it is not in connection with the commonwealth, but rather concerning its future as a "bridge between east and west."

During our walking tour, Dr. Levner notes the greater availability (and at reasonable prices) of basic foodstuffs in the government operated stores. Purchases of such items requires both rubles and coupons, which are intended to keep non-Belarus persons (such as Dr. Levner) from buying these items and returning to Russia, Ukraine, etc. Belarus citizens also receive special booklets with yet other coupons which allow the purchase of expensive goods, such as refrigerators. These can only be used by the named bearer. Nevertheless one sees older women trading in these coupons and booklets on the street.

Most noticeable to me is that I virtually never hear Belarusian spoken on the street, although I listen very carefully. Everyone speaks Russian in Minsk to one another even informally, at least as far as I observed. After ballet (Giselle), I went to the mid-night Easter service at the main Orthodox church. It was necessary to wait from 10 PM until midnight, when the service began. The service was rather disorganized, with many of the active participants reading from scripts, and with the local metripolitan (head of the church) continually muttering instructions to his troops. Not much rehearsal, apparently.

~~~~~~

At least we had a day for tourism in Minsk. And it was orthodox Easter, which was interesting. As was typical during this and many other visits to Russia and the former Soviet Union, local librarians were glad to spend some of their time off showing us around. I in particular, an American librarian from Washington DC who could carry on a conversation in Russian, was a little unusual.

Friday April 24 - Minsk

Friday, April 24. After breakfast met at hotel by Anna Neginskaia, who takes us to the University library via Metro. When we ask about where vendors usually operate on the street selling publications, she responds that we are there. In short, the level of street activity in Minsk is generally much lower than in frenetic Moscow. The meeting is a shorter version of the one the previous day at the National Library. One interesting fact that is mentioned is that university libraries such as this one were expected to keep one copy per student of many of the texts that the students use (standard Soviet practice, apparently). It is unclear how long this will continue, but the way the library operates will change greatly if it does. Raisa Pustakhod, the deputy director, also describes their automation efforts--which are taking place with no consultation or cooperation with either the National Library or the Academy of Sciences Library. There is a session of question and answer after the business portion of the meeting during which I try to explain various aspects of LC and librarianship in the US in general.

Ms. Neginskaia then guides us to the Academy of Sciences Library. Here Dr. Levner's connections with the Academy of Sciences (of the FSU) library system appears. The Academy of Sciences libraries of all the republics are attempting to continue to cooperate as much as possible despite the disintegration of the FSU. Thus Dr. Levner is received both as a representative of LC and of affiliated Academy of Sciences library, making our reception that much warmer. Also, Dr. Levner knows many of the library management here personally. Mikhail Strizhonok, the Director, is the first of many library directors that I will meet that is apparently the only man among a staff of women. The official business follows the usual course, being guided by my packet of handouts. We are given a tour of the library, followed by a more informal gathering in the director's office with various snacks and some toasts. A rather sober moment occurs during discussions of Chernobyl—Belarussians generally feel that their country suffered the most since it lies directly (and most closely) downwind (he claims that 70% of the fallout fell on Belarus). This subject was brought up in connection with the many banners in Minsk in connection with the sixth anniversary of the disaster, which took place on the 26th of April, 1986. There are several events planned in this connection, including a fund-raising concert (to aid children). The director, Mikhail Strizhonok, arranges to have one his reference librarians show us the city the next day (rather than her usual assignment of sitting at a reference desk). He also arranges for tickets to the ballet (and this evening, we have tickets to the opera, arranged for by the National Library).

Thursday April 23 - Minsk

Thursday, April 23. Dr. Levner and I meet for breakfast only to find that we have forgotten about the change in time-Belarus is one hour behind Moscow. After breakfast I attempt to buy stamps to mail postcards--but there are no stamps. I also try to change some dollars to rubles at exchange bureau—but there are no rubles. Fortunately I still have some from Moscow, but I do not have any coupons, which are required as well for most purchases. Perhaps I will not need to buy anything here? The director of the National Library, Galina Oleinik arrives as planned at the hotel and we proceed in the library's car to the National Library. The meetings last virtually the entire day, including a long section during which I answered many questions about the Library of Congress (exchange business is described in visit summary).

Many of the problems that the National Library is to be heard throughout the remainder of the trip, in the total absence of hard currency for acquisitions. Also, the matter of copyright (the protection of intellectual property) is completely up in the air. At the moment there simply isn't any real protection. Hopefully parliament will act to create laws on this question, but so far--nothing. Acquisitions for the National Library sounds much like the Russian State Historical Library--it is necessary to have people working on the street, buying materials as they spot them.

The Belarus Knizhnaia palata (BKP) is not considered to working particularly well, and in fact the assumption is that eventually it will cease to exist—its functions being absorbed by the National Library. The BKP is doing essentially many functions with manual files, that the National Library must then repeat (and the National Library is beginning to automate operations). (Similar statements were made in all republics concerning the former republic-level KPs, i.e, that it is expected that republic-level KPs are not going to last and will be absorbed in the national libraries.) As far as the national KP and the national Letopisi, the situation is unclear. Although they seem to think that in theory "everything" should be in their, they are really not to concerned about whether it is or not--it is a non-issue.

Automation is proceeding but unfortunately this library demonstrates another trait seen in all the libraries visited in these former republics--total non-cooperation with the other major libraries in the country. The library has its own programmers that have reworked a database package for programming and other purposes. A short demonstration indicates that while considerable effort has gone into this project, there are probably significant problems ahead.

We are given a tour of the library. The library is very heavily used, especially by students. The building has far more books in it then it was intended to, so that there are books in halls, etc. Like all the libraries we will visit in the former republics, they are switching from the BBK classification system to UDK. We are shown the independent press collection. Dr. Levner asks to look at a particular title, and in a moment reminiscent of similar situations at LC, the staff is unable to find it. Later a copy is found in the rare book room--a second copy that does not circulate is kept there. The library is planning to film their independent press collection.

The National Library is especially interested in collecting materials on Belarus (all the National Libraries have a similar interest) and has a special "Belarus archive'' that is just a separate collection of everything written in or about Belarus. Belarus has two legal languages--Belarusian and Russian. Well over half of all publishing is in Russian at present. The Director said that this situation is expected to change in the next three to five years, however, with Belarusian becoming more common than Russian. Even some scientific publishing is now in Belarusian (although this is recognized as perhaps less than a wise move--and on the street I rarely heard anything but Russian.)

The high point of the meetings was the description of the new building for the National Library that is to be built. At present, the library is in three buildings that are in poor condition and too small. The new building features a hexagonal glass cube 72 meters in height, which will house the collections. Both Dr. Levner and I are surprised by certain aspects of this design, but they assert they have thoroughly researched the matter.

In the middle of the meetings we broke for lunch, and the Director and her deputy, Tamara Aksenova, went to a nearby hotel for lunch. This particular hotel used to serve only the party, but the service and food are not particularly noteworthy. The Director also arranges for tickets to a piano recital this evening and an Opera the next (and the Academy of Sciences arranges for tickets to a ballet the third). The piano recital is in a small church, but at the break, Levner and I depart—I'm exhausted.

Back in the hotel I watch a little Russian television (channel 1 is available everywhere I go in the FSU). A rather odd program based entirely on the Mattel toy "Barbie" is on, which includes a host who claims that she IS Barbie. Anyway, Barbie introduces several American videos, including one by M.C. Hammer. Barbie then explains that (whether he knew it or not) Hammer has employed many basic moves developed by Russian folk dancers. She demonstrates. She then moves on to explain a rather complex contest that the program is running. It is worth it, however, the grand prize is--a real Mattel "Barbie" doll.

~~~~~~

I still remember this day now - I was something of an unrehearsed sales representative as far as setting up these new exchanges, and this was my first "performance" with the National Library of Belarus. The main difference between this "performance" and later efforts was that I got faster, and it became less tiring.

Wednesday April 22 - Minsk

Wednesday, April 22 Although today is Lenin's birthday, this date is no longer of any significance in Russia. A much more important subject is the five-fold increase in the price of gasoline that occurred at the beginning of the week. This, after Yeltsin had promised no such increase until July! Noone, however, seems particularly surprised. And maybe the lines for gas will decrease? (According to the exchange rate, the new higher price is only $.06 per liter, or roughly $.25 per gallon.)

In talks with many people during this trip I noted that while there was complaining about (and adjustment to) such price increases, there was little awareness that such increases (especially for energy) have just begun, and in fact will probably go far higher. People are busy enough simply surviving. In the morning I meet with Alexander Suetnov of the Tsentr po izucheniiu obshchestvennykh dvizhenii, who attended the Oxford conference last year. He describes his view of the changes that have taken place recently in the basic nature of the press in the FSU. He views the period of roughly 1987 to 1990 as being a distinct period, very different from the present. Now the press is of primarily two types: "yellow" press and "information" press. The "information" press emphasizes business, law, and history. Mr. Suetnov explains his rather ambitious plans for indexing articles. He also invites me to visit his archive later (as it turns out, I do not manage to do so).

Dr. Levner has spent every morning at the Kremlin gathering material in connection with the S'ezd that is taking place. Fortunately it is ending, so we will not miss material as a result of the trip.

Since we are departing for Minsk this evening, I decide to visit McDonald's Moscow. No McDonald's in Minsk! There is no line today to get into McDonald's because of the relatively high prices (150 rubles for two cheeseburgers, "milk cocktail" and fries), but the place is packed. There is also no drive-through, but a group of young teenagers has solved that by making deals with passing motorists to fetch McD food for them at a mark-up. Unfortunately they compete for this privilege by running up to approaching cars at breakneck speed, as well as running alongside moving cars in traffic while making a sales pitch. This looks decidedly unsafe. Ah, capitalism. Judging from the wad of cash these children are carrying they earn more than the employees of McDonald's itself, who earn a base wage of 14 rubles an hour (the McDonald's employee already earning more than every teacher, librarian and even most nuclear physisists in Russia). Of course the McDonald's employee receives something of even greater value than rubles--discount coupons for purchases at McDonald's!

After lunch I travel to Kuznetskii most to look at the book stores, but I have forgotten where I am (possibly as a result of the visit to McDonald's)--all the stores are closed for a lunch break. The street vendors are still in business, however, and I observe the same phenomenon seen elsewhere--little or nothing of interest to LC.

Dr. Levner and I meet and proceed to his apartment (driven by Sergei) with my luggage, which is rather more imposing than I would hope since it includes packets of material for twelve partners, each about 3/4 of an inch thick. We have dinner and kill time waiting for our late-evening flight. Levner's son Mitya entertains us with a capella renditions of his favorite Russian rock group, "Kino." An amazing display of memory (although in Minsk Dr. Lenver himself recited long passages of Evgenii Onegin from memory, so perhaps it runs in the family). We are met at airport (having flown on "Air Belarus") in Minsk by minibus, driver and representative of the University library, Anna Neginskaia. It is now almost 11 at night, so we appreciate this effort. The driver invites virtually every other passenger on our flight to join us for the ride to town, apparently in order better keep the minibus on the road as we proceed at rather high speed.

Ms. Neginskaia has applied for the Soros fellows program, and naturally is quite interested in speaking to an actual representative of the Library of Congress (I have described some of the comments I heard in a "for the record" memo, see appendix ... ).

~~~~~~

At the time there only two or three McDonald's in all of Russia. It is somewhat hard to believe now, when many young Moscovites indistinguishable from peer Americans, but in the immediate post-Soviet years it was jarring to have a McDonald's (albeit put their by McDonald's Canada, with a Canadian flag featured) full of Russians in the capital of Russia. How did this happen, one would think to one's self.

In order visit more than dozen exchange partners, I hauled a huge quantity of paper across the country in prepared packets. It seems somehow trivial now, but at the time I think it often made a significant impression that this American would show up with all this prepared materials to walk through - a sales presentation, really, in a country were librarians were unlikely to have much experience with such things.

Tuesday April 21 - Moscow

Tuesday, April 21. Had a meeting in morning with Marina Razarenova of the Rossiiskii institut gumanitarno-politcheskikh issledovanii, who came to the Moscow Acquisitions office to meet with me. She was at the conference on the Independent Press in Oxford in September, 1991 (a paper that I co-wrote with Eric Johnson was presented there). I have information for her concerning funding for the production of a Pro-Cite database of the independent press. She also talks about a Soros-funded conference that will be held in Moscow about the same time as the planned conference on the Soviet Independent press this September. This conference will be for the various organizations in the FSU that have received Soros funds to talk about how they used the money. Often these political groups, having received a fax, xerox machine and personal computer, were able to become highly active centers even in small Russian towns. Since many of these organizations produce newspapers this conference might be of interest to LC.

Shortly after this meeting Iuri Usachev appears. He is the sales representative in Moscow for Eastview Publications. Eastview has an expanded list of serials for subscription which Usachev gives to Dr. Levner. Eastview is trying to work with the Knizhnaia palata to create a new acquisitions system for foreign libraries by piggy-backing their (paid) orders onto mandatory deposits. There are obvious problems with this, such as are the mandatory deposits being made? The thinking seems to be that the paid orders will increase the likelihood that the deposits will be made. This represents an alternative to the Bibkollektor approach that LC is trying. In general this split between two acquisitions systems, both ties to required deposits copies (both paid and unpaid) seems unfortunate. Also, it is unclear the soon-to-be-enacted law of mandatory deposit copies will have on these operations. Mr. Usachev's discussion of all these issues was typical of Eastview--lots of confidence that potential difficulties can and will be overcome.

During my stay in Moscow I notice that the Moscow acquisitions office is constantly receiving visitors from all parts of the FSU. Today a scholar from Yekaterinburg appears who is an acquisitions contact for Dr. Levner. He also wrote a letter to the Library of Congress requesting information at one time, which by chance I responded to. Both he and I are surprised to actually meet one another. Unfortunately he has yet to receive the letter, which contained xeroxed materials. I am suspicious that it has been "lost" in the mail.

On the way to the next exchange partner visit it was necessary to visit Intourist. At one office, which was specified on the voucher that I had, I was told that "my tol'ko zanimaemsia buznismenami" (we only work with businessmen). Librarians, apparently, are not businessmen. Therefore it was necessary to visit a second office, which previously has only worked with clients via telex, fax or phone. Their guard, in fact, was extremely reluctant to let Dr. Levner and myself in. Once in the operations office it became clear that this organization was unused to working with live customers--all eight women there attempted to assist us at once (Levner having explained that our fate was in their hands). They seemed astonished by our itinerary--all the "hot spots," as they put it. Too many jokes about helmets and bulletproof jackets, given that we are, after all, just two librarians.

We then go to the Library of Foreign Literature for an exchange partner visit. Again run through program. As usual, the first half is received with interest. The Library of Foreign Literature is putting forward four candidates for the Soros program--probably the most of any one library. Certain aspects of our exchange are clarified.

After the meeting, Levner informs me that he has tickets to a press conference at Novosti publishers by Dmitri Volkogonov on the subject of his new books on Trotsky and Stalin. One questioner tries to provoke him by asking if he hadn't wasted his time by studying such horrible people for so long. Volkogonov responds that he believes that it in order to understand people it is necessary to understand "anti-people." Another questioner asks why the term "Stalinism" never become widely used. Volkogonov says that even Stalin had some modesty--for example, it was suggested that Moscow be renamed Gorod Stalina, but Stalin refused. After the press conference, a reception. Fortunately there is food at this affair (and in fact, for some this seems to be the entire point), and I get something to eat. Dr. Levner is able to go all day without food, which doesn't agree with me. I was somewhat surprised by the rather high "slime" factor of the audience, but Dr. Levner explains that the such a press conference is in large part to pay back various persons whose favor is necessary to the publisher.

~~~~~~~

Another reasonably full day.

Monday April 20 - Moscow

Monday, April 20 In the morning I go to the LC Moscow acquisitions office, located in the Library of Natural Sciences (BEN). I compose an email for Dr. Levner to be sent to LC-DC, but we are unable to send it due to some temporary problem with the local node. Dr. Levner had decided that we should try to get as much of the business that I have planned for Moscow done before our travels to the former republics, so we leave soon to visit the State Historical Library. We meet at the State Historical Library with Director Mikhail Afanas'ev and members of his staff (for details of exchange aspects of this meeting, refer to "visit summary"). Dr. Afanas'ev is a very interesting figure in Russian librarianship, so I am quite pleased to have this opportunity to meet him. As far as the exchange is concerned, this is a somewhat unusual case (for the FSU) because his institution has a significant debt to LC. Interestingly LC is one the their smaller partners in comparison to other US institutions. The reason is that LC has used other sources for the kinds of materials that the State Historical Library can supply to exchange partners. At the beginning of the meeting I present a copy of the Guide to the Library of Congress, which is the gift that I brought for all the libraries I visited. I run through my standard packet, which includes information on alternatives to exchange, programs for librarians in the FSU to visit the United States, as well as discussing both the specifics of our exchange and the operations of LC's Exchange & Gift (E&G) in general. Improving the partner's understanding of how E&G operates should increase the partner's ability to request materials that LC can supply, thus improving the exchange.

Mikhail Afanas'ev notes that the State Historical Library must have a person who acquires materials (particularly new periodicals) on the street in much the same way that Dr. Levner operates. As to monographs, the State Historical Library's view at present is that there is no one single source that will insure total coverage--basically, they are improvising at the moment. The Bibkollektor does not get everything, according to Dr. Afanas'ev. The Bibkollektor may improve after an expected new law regarding mandidtory deposit of new publications is passed. Bibkollektor is also negotiating agreements with former republics to recreate previously exiting deposit arrangements (such as with Latvia, where an agreement has been successfully concluded). The State Historical Library is trying new arrangements such as direct contracts with publishers (however, so far the library is only working directly with about ten of them). As a result, at the moment there is some unwanted duplication in acquisitions (this sounds familiar). Library staff also make purchases out-of-pocket when they encounter new materials on the street. Dr. Afanas'ev described problems encountered by Academy of Sciences affiliated libraries. Their own Academy of Sciences Bibkollektor has decided to privatize and is attempting to do so, even though it was directed not to. Recently this organization began to require payment in advance every quarter, which was expensive and inconvenient.

There are also "nezavisimye tsentry" (independent centers) selling books, but these have extremely high prices. Even worse than the problems of high prices is the increase in the cost of postage. Russian libraries have appealed to Yeltsin for a subsidy, but this question has not been decided (this phrase is to be heard repeatedly during this trip). Dr. Afanas'ev speaks disparagingly of the Knizhnaia Palata (KP). Since it doesn't have any way of actively acquiring materials (other than manditory deposit requirments) it is missing much. The Istorichka does not rely on KP data. Another problem is that while the new national libraries of the former Soviet Union seem to be exchanging publications successfully for the most part, other libraries are having considerable difficulties. They are attempting to work out barter/exchange arrangements, but some of the libraries are not being too cooperative. The Academy of Sciences library in Moldova, for 'example, has requested West European materials from the Istorichka (hope springs eternal, apparently) which it cannot possibly send. Dr. Afanas'ev also talked briefly about the state of publishing. The biggest change is that the increase in the price of paper means that the days of gigantic (by Western standards) print runs are probably over. It is now more likely to be profitable to produce a smaller tirage. He does see some evidence that the price of paper has peaked and may even retreat slightly.

I felt somewhat sorry for Dr. Afanas'ev--he was being inundated with Americans. Directly before our meeting, he had been meeting with Edward Kasinec of New York Public. Afterwards he had another group from another US library--apparently there was some meeting in Moscow and all had decided to drop by. In the afternoon Dr. Levner and I visit INION. Run through my standard program. During the middle of day I had to return to apartment for some papers that I had not thought that I would need, and while exiting a subway station an overloaded escalator ground to a halt. Much grumbling from the people around, but total rebellion avoided. Also, the undercarriages of many of the subway cars sound unhappy--many load clunks and groans. Apparently even the much praised Moscow subway is having a difficult time.

The visit to INION is a flag-waving effort. INION is a big partner, and it is useful to make sure that they are satisfied. They do not voice any major concerns as far as the exchange is concerned, but they are interested in the information in the first half of my standard presentation. Jet-lag begins to set in during this meeting, but Levner has already learned some of the generic elements, so he assists.

Mr. Kurennoi comments that it is far from clear that Russian will remain a "international scientific language," even within the former Soviet Union--there are already many new publications coming out in vernacular languages that previously would have been in Russian.

According to Mr. Kurennoi, there was a reregistration of publishers in the past month, and there are sanctions for failure to deposit copies with the Knizhnaia palata (exactly what they are is unclear). He notes that acquisitions for INION's own collections are not in jeopardy, but that the acquisitions of additional copies to supply exchange partners has become very difficult.

Most annoying is that all these changes and difficulties are coming at once. There are rumors both about the Academic Bibkollektor and the general Bibkollektor. Thgere is chaos with their budget--no longer is it clear what it will be for more than a few weeks in advance. Mr. Korennoi himself has created a proposal of cooperation between the fifteen largest academic libraries of the FSU for cooperation in acquisitions, which he hopes will be successful, but the fact is that many different initiatives are being tried at once (this sounds much like the Istorichka).

As we leave, Dr. Levner points to a spot that was originally intended to be a location for a new building for the Library of Natural Sciences. History intervened and the building was never built, which is probably just as well from the Library of Congress' point of view--BEN's present location is very convenient. After this visit, Dr. Levner heads home and I go to dinner at a cooperative restaurant in downtown Moscow that has been recommended. The total is 600 rubles for more food than I would normally eat. The quality is somewhat uneven--while the vegetables in the salad are fresh, the peas had been recently living in a can--but overall the food is much better than what I had in previous visits at Soviet restaurants.

I walk part of way to apartment through Red Square and area around Kremlin. The amazing number of vendors on the street with goods either for tourists or for the local population is astonishing--can anyone really make enough money with so many of them operating? On the street, in the underground cross-walks and in the subway there are endless vendors selling books, magazines and newspapers. I am glad to see that virtually all of the newspapers and magazines are familiar to me from my work at the Library. The books are for sale on the street are mostly not familiar because the vast majority fall outside LC collection guidelines. One aspect is immediately obvious: virtually none are original works. Many translations of science fiction, detective novels, sex manuals, fiction. Some are just (unauthorized) reprints, such as one of the Romanov English-Russian/Russian-English Dictionary. Not much respect for copyright--generally there is a copyright statement that concerns the translation or the "oformlenie." The numerous business publications (monographs) are somewhat better, although many are just reproducing information found in other sources with no additional interpretation or particularly useful presentation. I have examined the items for sale at several vendors selling videocassettes. All claim that the quality is excellent-a "first copy!" But they are all in violation of copyright. Such movies are even shown on television--I watched a few minutes of Ghostbusters II that had a Russian voice reading over the German that had been dubbed in. The apartment where I am staying is near the Kursk railway station. Railway stations in Russia are quite busy, even after dark. Lots going on--but not clear exactly what. Out front is a ten piece band that is playing for handouts (I saw many individuals and groups playing on the street during this visit, but this was the biggest). Virtually everyone seemed to be ignoring them. Again, where there were mobs of vendors during the day, at night there is incredible filth and trash.

~~~~~~~

I'm not sure much of this is terribly interesting to the general reader, but it certainly gives me pause now - having arrived the day before, this is a significant amount of work. Geez.

Sunday April 19 - Moscow

Sunday, April 19 I arrive in Moscow after a flight from Frankfurt with only ten passengers. I am met by Dr. Levner and Sergei Yegorov (the husband of Elena Yegorova, who works in the LC Moscow acquisitions office}. The first thing that I notice (having made my last visit to the Soviet Union over ten years ago) is that the border guards are much more relaxed in their duties. On the way into town the deterioration of the former Soviet Union (FSU) is striking: the city is very dirty, the roads are in awful condition, the city buses are heavily overloaded and even many private vehicles are in terrible condition, with several stopped with hoods up or an abandoned appearance.

I have three nights in Moscow before departure to Minsk. Karen Johnson, the sister of LC staff member Eric Johnson, has arranged for a place for me to stay while in Moscow. The first night I accompany her and some of her friends to a new cooperative restaurant located not far the Kremlin. The food is quite good, and in fact I have bliny with black caviar. Because of the advantageous exchange rate (100 to 1), a meal like this at a restaurant that accepts rubles (which this one does) is very reasonable for someone with dollars--about ten dollars. For a Russian with a typical Russian salary, however, it would represent a huge amount. Outside the restaurant there are vendors selling food, drink and souvenirs, among other things. The worst aspect of this is that when they pack up, they leave a huge mess, which is not cleaned up. The city seems astonishingly dirty.

~~~~~~

I make no remarks in this report about my ability to speak and understand Russian, which I guess was OK. More recently, when I visited Moscow in July of 2015, it took three-four days to get to the point where I was able to express myself without thinking too much about it and understand most of what people were saying without apparent effort.

Saturday April 18 - Departure from Washington

Saturday, April 18. Depart from Washington. I have prepared packets of information for each partner that I am to visit and consulted with appropriate LC recommending officers and staff, so I feel reasonably well prepared for my trip. On the other hand, many of the countries that I am to visit are undergoing some turmoil, which makes me slightly apprehensive.

~~~~~~

Looking back, I may have felt "reasonably well prepared for my trip" in sort of technical sense, but I am not so sure about otherwise. I had not been to Russia since the depths of the Soviet Brezhnev era in 1981, ten years before - quite literally, a different country. It is possible I felt well prepared in a combination of "how hard can it be?" and because of outright ignorance. Well, sometimes God protects fools, since things went overall very well.

At the time travel in the former Soviet Union (FSU,or NIS for "newly independent states" of the FSU) was remarkably easy to organize from Washington through specialized travel agencies that continued to offer services that had existed to support travel in the Soviet era to more obscure parts of the USSR. Looking back, it is hard to imagine, but I had a booklet of vouchers for the hotels and most of the air and other travel. I would appear in Tbilisi, say, with a blue bit of paper stating that I had prepaid for two hotel rooms (one for me, one for the Moscow Office director) for several nights and it worked. What I would have done if it had not worked, I have no idea.

Trip Description - Overview

TRAVEL DIARY – This is from a document that I typed up to document a 1992 Library of Congress (LC) acquisitions trip to Moscow (Russia), Minsk (Belarus), Chisinau (Moldova), Yerevan (Armenia), and Tbilisi (Georgia), returning to Moscow. At the end of the trip I had several days of vacation time. It was, looking back, an amazingly long trip (for this sort of thing) - four weeks from a Saturday departure April 18 from Washington DC until the return flight on Saturday May 16. I have copied this travelogue sort of report written in the month after the trip into this blog, day by day.

~~~~~~

Each of the blog pages start with the text of what I wrote in 1992 followed in some cases by comments added now.