Blinken OSA Library houses a non-circulating reference library of books related to the Cold War, Communism, international human rights, history of broadcasting and the archival profession as well as a collection of more than 7.300 dailies and journals published from the 1950s onwards in 40 languages. It also offers special thematic collections on microforms and rare publications from the region including numerous titles of informal and regional press and ephemera.
Most of the library items originate from the Research Institute of RFE/RL, and from other institutional and private donations.
Access and use
The records of Blinken OSA’s collection of periodicals and books are searchable in the integrated archival catalog, and are also available through the CEU Library catalog. To make research easier and to track back the origin of the library documents, most of the publications are organized into browsable special thematic collections.
Library materials can be requested as usual at the Blinken OSA Research Room in the Goldberger House. Please note that to fulfill requests for periodicals stored in an off-site repository (labeled in the catalog as 'location: Off-Site Storage') we may need 3 working days.
Databases subscribed to by the Central European University Library are accessible in our Research Room. We can also assist you with intercampus loan requests if you need library materials housed in the Vienna campus of the University.
Special Thematic Collections
Soviet Regional Press
(HU OSA 300-85-18)
The 1.709 small-circulation, locally distributed titles were printed in all the republics and regions of the Soviet Union.
Soviet Informal Press
(HU OSA 300-85-19)
The collection consists of 1.079 mainly Russian language titles, the first independent publications of the Perestroika period.
Books from the RFE/RL Library
The former two book collections of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty were consolitated in 1975 and amounted to appr. 120.000 volumes by the time the Radios were closed down.
Testaments to the Holocaust. Documents of the Wiener Library
(on microfilm)
The Wiener Library’s selected publications, thematic press cuttings, biographical files, photographic collections, personal reports and interviews on the history of Nazism and the European Jews.
Prague Spring 1968 Collection
(on microfiche)
A collection of articles concerning the Prague Spring from 49 newspapers and periodicals published in Czechoslovakia between 1966 and 1968. The collection includes two important Party dailies (Czech and Slovak), economic newspapers, military periodicals, publications of all legal parties, Czech and Slovak regional dailies, and satirical magazines.
Polish Independent Publications, 1976-
(on microfiche)
The collection is based on the Radio Free Europe samizdat archive currently at OSA, and complemented by holdings from the Polish Library (POSK) in London, the Feltrinelli Foundation in Milan, as well as a number of smaller contributions from archives and libraries in the US, UK and Canada. It contains 1,361 Polish independent journal titles published between 1976 and 1988.
US Government documents on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
(on microfilm)
The Diplomatic Post Records and the US State Department’s Central Files are a comprehensive collection of primary materials detailing the internal and foreign affairs of Russia and the Soviet Union. The FBIS Daily Reports consist of translated transcripts of foreign radio and television broadcasts, news agency transmissions, newspapers, periodicals, and government statements.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publications
(on microfiche)
RFE/RL's own publications 1956-1991 on microfiche. The collection includes RFE Background Reports and Situation Reports, RL weekly Research Bulletins, Soviet Area Audience and Opinion Research (1977-1991), and Soviet samizdat publications.