So what do you ask for when you get to the archives: papers, books stuff??  As with most other fields the terminology is highly specialized and you need to be familiar with it before you get there.  There are alot of very useful sources for this.  Many are actually in the archival guides.  Below are some that you might find helpful. The first, the multilingual dictionary of archival terminology from the International Institute of Archival Science of Trieste and Maribor that is pictured below, is available here.

Next is a Polish language interactively alphabetized dictionary of archival terminology. In addition to the dictionary, in recent years this privately authored and maintained site has expended significantly to include useful links to Polish archives and other professional associations that are interested in and working with archives. It can be accessed here.

 Finally, another useful online dictionary for English-speakers has been complied by the Russian National Archives and is available here. It works very similarly to the Polish link above, except that there are no other links to outside sources, only one link to the Russian National Archives internal page on frequently asked questions and definitions (in Russian).