Balkan Studies (Multi-disciplinary Resources): INION

INION contains hundreds of thousands of records for materials not only in Slavic, East European & Eurasian languages, but also international languages from nearly every country in the world, particularly English.  The Academy of Sciences Library conducts bibliographic exchanges with 874 enterprises from 69 nations from around the world. It contains many special collections for Russia, particularly documents from international organizations including the League of Nations, the United Nations, UNESCO, as well as government documents from other countries, especially the United States and Great Britain. 

Digital copies of most articles in the INION database are available directly from INION.  Details are provided in both Russian and English at the INION website.

ИНИОН (i.e., INION) stands for Институт Научной Информации по Общественным Наукам, i.e. The Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences.  This database is called "Russian Institute of Social Sciences Publications" in most Western libraries. 

The Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, also known as INION, is a well-known center for research in social studies and humanities in Russia. The INION bibliographic databases, also sometimes called the “Russian Institute of Social Sciences Publications,” provide unparalleled coverage for Russian & Eastern European materials, especially Russian-language materials.  The databases comprise nearly 4 million records including bibliographic records for articles, books, manuscripts, and dissertations in the humanities and social sciences in 140 Slavic, East European, English, and other world languages since the 1980s.  It contains many special collections for Russia, particularly documents from international organizations including the League of Nations, the United Nations, UNESCO, as well as government documents from other countries, especially the United States and Great Britain. 

INION bibliographic databases may be accessed through the University Library’s subscription interface or freely on the open web. Each interface has advantages and disadvantages.  Though often referred to as one resource, INION comprises numerous smaller bibliographic databases covering individual disciplines such as literature, government and law, and so on. The University Library’s subscription interface, called the “Russian Institute of Social Sciences Publications,” allows the user to simultaneously search all or multiple bibliographic databases, which can be helpful for interdisciplinary research.  On INION’s website, the user must search the discipline-specific bibliographic databases separately. INION’s search interface tends to provide more consistent search results and has some search options that are not available through the subscription interface. INION also offers archived thematic databases.  

It is typically best practice to perform searches in both Cyrillic and Latin scripts to find the broadest range of sources. For example, a search for “Ceauşescu” in Latin script yields mostly English and Romanian language results, while the Cyrillic spelling "Чаушеску" yields mostly Russian-language sources. Researchers should also consider transliteration issues – INION appears to use the ISO system. Below is a screenshot of search results in the open web INION interface.

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Subjects covered: humanities, religion, philosophy, Slavic studies, political science, social sciences, economics and art.