Help with your research
Access our Collections
First steps
The first step to do research at the Archivum is to use the integrated online Catalog that lists and gives description of our archival, library, and film library holdings.
If you need help to navigate the Catalog, consult our Researcher’s Guide.
Registration
Most of our collections are available only for registered researchers. Registration is free and open to everyone.
Registered researchers can request a materials through the Catalog; analog materials will be served in the Research Room, while digital content through our Cloud service. For more information on the rules relating to accessing our holdings, please read our access policy.
Remote research
Our digitized, or born digital materials can be accessed:
- on our the Online Collections page
- on our Curated Collections page
- through the Catalog
- CEU students/faculty/staff have free access to the Archivum's Research Cloud at CEU Sharepoint.
To further facilitate remote research, the Archivum has introduced a Digitization on Demand service.
Access summarized:


Requests and Use of Materials in the Research Room
The procedures described below are designed to protect the safety and integrity of the documents.
Archival boxes and library books/periodicals
- You may request up to 10 boxes/books/periodicals at a time.
- Use only one box at a time, and remove only one folder at a time. Make sure the order of documents within the folder, as well as the order of folders within the box, is preserved when putting them back.
- Preserve the existing order of unbound library material (periodicals, magazines, etc.).
- In the case of manuscripts, leave all materials flat on the table. Gloves are required when handling photographs, slides, and objects. Gloves are provided by the Reference Service.
- Do not use paper clips, sticky notes, etc. on any document or book.
- Do not place books or other objects on archival documents, or apply pressure to them. Be careful when (un)folding the documents.
- Do not use a pen or a pencil as a pointer or make marks of any kind on the documents.
- Return records to their archival box when you leave the Research Room.
- If you would like to continue working with a box in the coming days, place it on your designated shelf in the Preparatory Room. We hold boxes for up to five working days. If you have finished working with a box, place it on the reshelf trolle.
- Specific materials may be subject to additional rules of use.
Microfilm and micro-fiches
- You may have up to 10 microfiches or 10 microfilm reels at a time.
- After using a microfilm, rewind it.
- Remember to switch off the microfiche/microfilm reader after use.
- After use, place the reel on your designated shelf in the Preparatory Room, or on the reshelf trolley.
Audiovisual materials
- We provide only digital viewing copies. You may request up to 10 files at a time.
Further files/items/boxes will be served when you have returned some or all from your previous batch—in case of digital materials, notify the Reference Service that your files can be deleted.
Reproduction and re-use
- Unless otherwise noted, researchers in the Research Room may scan or photograph non-restricted archival documents solely for non-commercial research and educational purposes in low-resolution format.
- Unless otherwise noted, the Archivum does not hold the copyrights of archival documents in its holdings.
- It is the responsibility of the researcher to clear IPR and personal rights, and manage royalties. If a researcher obtained publication rights to archival documents preserved at the Archivum, they are asked to follow the Citation Guideline available on the institutional website.
- There may be further legal or donor-defined restrictions on specific materials.
Research Support
Reference Service staff are available to help with general inquiries, use of the Catalog, and the Digitization on Demand service. In-depth consultations with Senior Archivists or Research Fellows can be arranged. The Archivum, however, does not undertake research on-demand.
Most of our archival materials are stored on site, with deliveries scheduled at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., and 3:30. p.m. each day; please plan your requests accordingly. Requests submitted after 3:15 p.m. will be processed the next day. Delivery from off-site storages may take up to 10 working days.
For further information, you can contact our Research Room staff via email at archivum@ceu.edu.
Citation
Our citation guidelines draw inspiration from two seminal sources: the Citing Records in the National Archives of the United States (revised 2010 edition) and The Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition), and follow bibliography style form of citations. You may prefer another system of source citation or may follow special instructions to authors. Whatever system is adopted, it should be used consistently, providing a guide to the origin as well as to the location of the records. The citation elements we recommend are as follows (groups of data elements are separated by a semicolon):
- Item title (formal or given)
- Date of creation, production, broadcas
- Folder title
- Reference for the fonds, subfonds, series and container number (preferably in both textual and numerical form)
- Full name of the repository: Blinken OSA Archivum @CEU, Budapest, Hungary. (Short name: HU OSA)
In subsequent citations to the same record, abbreviations are accepted.
- Blinken OSA Archivum @CEU, Budapest, Hungary: HU OSA.
- Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Research Institute: RFE/RL RI
- Open Media Research Institute: OMRI
- Open Society Foundations: OSF
Some records may require additional information to be cited. If the title does not identify the type of record, it should be added in parentheses after the title of record and date.
Examples of citations based on the most common document types in our holdings are given below.
Background Reports
"Poland Under Martial Law: A Selection of Documents, December 1981 – December 1982." Compiled by Roman Stefanowski. 1 March 1984. HU OSA 300-8-3: 143/2.; Background Report; Publications Department; Records of the Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Research Institute; Blinken OSA Archivum @CEU, Budapest
When you cite any online source, provide the date you last accessed it in parentheses after the URL or DOI (digital object identifier). Insert the type of record [Electronic record] in parentheses after the item title and date.
"East European Media and the Polish Free Saturday issue" by Kusin, Vladimir V; G. S. [Country Series: Poland], 15 January 1981. [Electronic record.] HU OSA 300-8-3:45-4-3; Background Report; Publications Department; Records of the Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Research Institute; Blinken OSA Archivum @CEU, Budapest
http://osaarchivum.org/files/holdings/300/8/3/pdf/45-4-3 [accessed 26 March, 2012]
Information Items
"Private income of Mrs. Gero", 7 September 1951. Item 44/8884, Hungary; HU OSA 300-1-2; Information Items; General Records; Records of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Research Institute; Blinken OSA Archivum @CEU, Budapest
Correspondence
Béla Király to Daniel Moynihan, München, 21 October 1980. HU OSA 336-0-3: 2; Academic Correspondence; General Béla Király Papers; Blinken OSA Archivum @CEU, Budapest
James T. Bartley to Victor Frank, 24 March, 1969. [Letter]; HU OSA 300-85-48; Pasternak, 1964-1969; New York Office Files Related to Samizdat; Blinken OSA Archivum @CEU, Budapest
Biographical Files
Абдулладжанов, А., 1987-1994; HU OSA 300-80-9:2; Kraus Biographical Files; Soviet Red Archives; Blinken OSA Archivum @CEU, Budapest
Boabă, Alexandru, card 11; HU OSA 205-4-72:2; Romanian Biographical Card Files; Information Services Department; Records of the Open Media Research Institute; Blinken OSA Archivum @CEU, Budapest
Subject Files
"Huge setback in Soviet grain is indicated by CIA’s figures" by Dan Morgan, HU OSA 300-80-1:918; Сельское хозайство: урожай 1973-1975; Old Code Subject Files; Soviet Red Archives; Records of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Research Institute; Blinken OSA Archivum @CEU, Budapest
Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika, Toruń, card 6-7; HU OSA 300-50-3:17; Subject Card Files; Polish Unit; Records of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Research Institute; Blinken OSA Archivum @CEU, Budapest
Microforms
When citing microforms from other sources, cite the repository where the accessioned microform is held.
"The Main Lines of Soviet Wartime Propaganda", 6 September 1945. [Microfilm publication]; OSS/State Department Intelligence and Research Reports, Part VI., The Soviet Union. Part XI., The Soviet Union, 1950-1961. Reel 1. Frederick, MD: University Publications of America; Special library collections; Blinken OSA Archivum @CEU, Budapest
Photographs
"Photographs of life in Camp Kilmer", 1957. HU OSA 412-0-1:1; Documents and photographs; Gary Filerman Collection on Hungarian Refugees of 1956; Blinken OSA Archivum @CEU, Budapest
Audiovisual materials
"Fekete Doboz: a Nagy Imre és társai elleni per fellebbviteli tárgyalása" [Black Box: The Trial Proceedings of the Appellate Procedure Against Imre Nagy and Others at the Highest Court], 1989. [VHS]; HU OSA 306-0-1:37; Audiovisual Materials Relating to the 1956 Hungarian Revolution; Blinken OSA Archivum @CEU, Budapest
Film Library
"Panj pun olova" [Bad Blue Boys], 2007. [DVD-ROM]; Editor: Branko Schmidt. FL1542; Film Library; Blinken OSA Archivum @CEU, Budapest
Samizdat collection
Referring to a published samizdat document:
"Обращение 82-х советских евреев к "братьям-евреям" по случаю Дня солидарности с еврееями Советского Союза" [Перепечатка с фотокопии оригинала в Архиве Самиздата], 1974; HU OSA 300-85-11; AC 550; Sobranie dokumentov Samizdata, vol. 8; Blinken OSA Archivum @CEU, Budapest
Referring to the original copy of a samizdat document:
"Обращение 82-х советских евреев к "братьям-евреям" по случаю Дня солидарности с еврееями Советского Союза" [Перепечатка с фотокопии оригинала в Архиве Самиздата], 1974; HU OSA 300-85-9; AC 550; Published Samizdat; Blinken OSA Archivum @CEU, Budapest
"An Outline of Some Characteristic Attitudes of the Various Social Strata of Soviet Society" [by Yakushev, Aleksandr], 26 June 1969. HU OSA 300-85-48:20; Analysis Report #4-69; Intelligentsiia; New York Office Files Related to Samizdat; Blinken OSA Archivum @CEU, Budapest
Records of the Open Society Foundations
Grant records
"Itogovyi tvorcheskii otchet po realizatsii proekta LOOSH (Lichnostno-orientirovannoe obuchenie shkol’nikov)" Grant B95-11-1010-13, 20 May 1996; Education Program Seminars: B95-11-1010-13/B95-11-1010-2 [1of 3]; HU OSA 4-3-3:2; Education Program Files; Programs; Records of the Belarusian Soros Foundation; Blinken OSA Archivum @CEU, Budapest
Project files
"Subject: Bosnian Women’s Initiative: related programs sponsored by OSI in Bosnia" To: Arthur Helton, Ex: Kathleen Hunt, 18 May 1997; Bosnian Women Initiative, 1996-1997; HU OSA 124-2-1:1; Projects Files; Programs; Records of the Forced Migration Project; Blinken OSA Archivum @CEU, Budapest
