You probably have a favorite browser, whether it is Google Chrome, Firefox or even Internet Explorer.
It is important to note that when using resources provided by institutions from Russia and Eastern Europe you might consider trying multiple browsers. Sometimes there is a note on the website about which is the best browser to use, but often nothing is indicated. So if you find that you cannot see something that should be there right on the screen, try another browser.
As many scholars will be using the IAS Library as a veritable "home base" during the course of the Summer Research Lab, it will be helpful to know what technologies are available on-site for scholars to utilize. The following list of technologies and descriptions is designed to give scholars a quick view of what technologies are available at the IAS Library, their purpose, and how many iterations of these technologies are available for use.
Zotero
Zotero is a free citation management software plug in for Mozilla Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. It enables users to collect, manage, and cite research from all types of sources. It is easy to use, lives in your web browser where you do your work, and it is free! Zotero allows you to attach pdfs, notes, images and screenshots to your citations, to organize them into collections for different projects, and to create bibliographies using Word or OpenOffice.
Zotero detects when a book, article, or other resource is being viewed and, with a mouse click, finds and saves the full reference information to a local file. If the source is an online article or web page, Zotero can optionally store a local copy of the source. Users can then add notes, tags, and their own metadata through the in-browser interface. Selections of the local reference library data can later be exported as formatted bibliographies.
Because it is a Firefox add-on, it automatically updates itself periodically to work with new online sources and new bibliographic styles.
To use Zotero, you can either download Zotero browser extension, or Zotero Standalone, which runs as a separate application but plugs into your choice of browser. Downloading Zotero includes the plugins for Word and OpenOffice.
For more help, see this official Zotero Guide or the Zotero LibGuide.
ARJ is a file archiver that compresses files into a disk space saving archive. It is fast, reliable, and has a rich set of features which include Windows 9x, Millenium long filename support, file version management, data damage protection, ANSI escape sequence display handler, configurable command options, multiple volume archives (archives that span diskettes) and much more.
For example: the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation uses ARJ file format to store/publish statistical information. Researchers can view and download ARJ file archiver here.
DjVu (pronounced "déjà vu") is a digital document format with advanced compression technology and high performance value. DjVu allows for the distribution of very high resolution images of scanned documents, digital documents, and photographs on the Internet and on DVD . DjVu viewers are available for the web browser, the desktop, and other mobile devices.
Researchers can view and download Djvu Browser Plug-ins here. Note: Djvu browser plug-in for Windows / Macs.
There are number of online resources that require DjVu browser plug-in. For example: Russkii Biograficheskii Slovar' [A. A. Polovtsova, Elektronnaia reprintnaia versiia] and Entsiklopedicheskii slovar' Brokgauza i Efrona (v 86 tomakh).