Welcome to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and to the Summer Research Lab! The Slavic Reference Service (SRS), the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center (REEEC), and the Center for Global Studies (CGS) are committed to providing high quality research support for the duration of the SRL period, which will occur from June 10th to August 2nd, 2024 and beyond. Please use this libguide to find important information about SRL including the event schedule, services offered by the Slavic Reference Service, information about internet access, online resources and more. 

All SRL Participants should register for the required orientation session with the Slavic Reference Service. Participants are also encouraged to take part in a personalized bibliographic session with SRS, so that we can help you form a research strategy and identify possible sources specific to your project that may be of interest. SRS will contact participants individually before your arrival to schedule a time that works for this personalized session. 

The Slavic Reference Service is here to help you make the most of your stay at the University of Illinois. SRS provides the following services: 

• Making copies of chapters or short articles held at UIUC through our Duplication Service.     
• Identifying materials in our collection and libraries. 
• Verifying and correcting citations.  
• Suggesting reference materials you might find relevant for your research. 
• Offering access through our website to extensive research resources organized by country. 

For more information about what we do and our services, please see our website. 

Email: srscite@library.illinois.edu

Hours: Monday - Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday: CLOSED

Phone: 217-333-1349

Location

Twitter: @SRSUIUC

Facebook: Slavic Reference Service

For more information about our library, please visit the Insider's guide to the library.

The Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center can be reached at reeec-srl@illinois.edu. For additional information on the SRL from a REEEC-focused perspective, please read their Introduction to the Summer Research Laboratory page.

The history of the Summer Research Lab dates back to the founding of the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center in 1958. At the time, the University of Illinois was not known as a center for Slavic area studies. It was the arrival of Dr. Ralph Fisher that spearheaded the initiative to grow the center into a nationally - and later internationally - renowned area studies center. In the following year, he hired Larry Miller to take charge of the Slavic collection at the university library, and by 1964, in less than six years, it was already the largest Slavic library collection in the Midwest. The year 1970 greeted another milestone for Russian, East European, and Eurasian area studies on campus when the Slavic Division at the library moved to its own separate reading room, where all the library staff and scholars from various departments could come together. The first session of the Summer Research Lab was in 1973, not only marking a turning point for campus area studies, but setting a nationwide precedent for research pertaining to this region. Within the next two years, the Slavic Reference Service was officially established, thereby enabling the Slavic librarians to remotely share their reference knowledge with scholars worldwide throughout the year.

Nowadays, thanks to the visionary work of Ralph Fisher, Larry Miller, and many other Slavic librarians and scholars, the collection on campus is routinely ranked as the second or third largest Slavic collection in the country. Furthermore, the strong ties between the Slavic Reference Service and the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center has served as a model for how the other area centers interact with and draw from the International Reference Services in the library. Both the institutional strength of the center and the vastness of the library collection have drawn some of the best scholars in myriad fields such as literature, cinema, history, musicology, and anthropology to call the University of Illinois their home, marking it as an intellectual landmark for Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies in many disciplines. (For more information on the history of the center and the library's Slavic collection, check out this blog post.)

During your time here as an SRL Associate, you will have full library privileges to conduct research. These privileges include free access to the stacks, use of a carrel, and the right to check out books and bound periodicals. This guide will serve to orient visiting scholars on the multitude of research technologies available at the University of Illinois Library. 

The Slavic Reference Service staff will be available to assist you with technology related issues. Do not hesitate to contact us at: srscite@library.illinois.edu

Main Library 

Summer Hours: Monday- Friday: 8:30am-6pm; Saturday & Sunday: 1:00 pm -5:00 pm (Phonecenter M-F 8:30-5pm)

Phone: 217-333-2290

Location

Grainger Engineering Library

Summer Hours: Monday-Thursday: 8:30 am - 3 am; Friday: 8:30 am-6:00 pm; Saturday & Sunday: 1:00 pm -8:00 pm

Phone: 217-244-7826

Location

Please note all libraries will be closed on June 19th and July 4th.