Identity Statement

Reference Code

HU OSA 205

Title

Records of the Open Media Research Institute

Date(s)

1952 - 1997

Description Level

Fonds

Extent and medium (processed)

2012 Archival boxes, 251.5 linear meters
68 Archival card box, 21.42 linear meters
6 VHS PAL, 0.15 linear meters

Context

Name of creator(s)

Open Media Research Institute

Content and Structure

Scope and Content (Abstract)

The fonds contain different types of materials including textual, video materials and electronic records. The textual part consists mainly of clippings, abstracts of media reports, new agencies releases, scientific articles, and transcripts of monitoring of the national television and radio broadcasts, mostly from the countries of East, Central and Southeastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, although Western materials are also present.
The records are organized according to the structure of the Open Media Research Institute (OMRI) and include both administrative files and the clippings and monitoring files created by the OMRI departments. Since OMRI was a successor of the RFE/RL Research Institute (Munich, Germany) which was dissolved in 1994, the latter's small stock of records were transferred to Prague to support the operation of the new institution.
The Information Services Department took over these materials and on their basis an historical archives consisting of two main parts (Slavic, Baltic and Eurasian Archives and East European Archives) was founded. At the same time the OMRI Archives staff continued to file incoming materials and in some cases new systems of arrangement were introduced. Along with filing textual materials, the electronic databases and files were created.
The materials organized as Subject and Biographical Files cover a wide range of topics and provide information on a large variety of key figures in the social, cultural, and political spheres of the region. The files related to politics, economy, culture, foreign relations, social issues, armed forces, environmental problems, culture, education, religion, national minorities and ethnic problems, migration in the transition period (1989-1997) of the respective countries may be of particular interest.
Besides printed publications of the biweekly magazine Transition (later the monthly Transitions) the fonds contain an extensive collection of electronic publications (OMRI Daily Digest, OMRI Economic Digest, Analytical Briefs, OMRI Russian Regional Report, and others).
A small collection of video materials from Russian television newscasts and other political programs relating to the elections held in Russia in 1995 and 1996 supplements the Subject Files of the OMRI analysts Scott Parrish and Robert Orttung on the same topic. Other materials from the Research and Analysis Department represent the clipping collections of the analysts and electronic files of the papers prepared by staff members for publication in the magazine Transition or in other electronic publications.

Accruals

Not Expected

Conditions of Access and Use

Conditions governing access

Unknown

Languages

Abkhazian, Albanian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bashkir, Belarusian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, English, Estonian, French, Georgian, German, Hungarian, Italian, Kazakh, Kirghiz; Kyrgyz, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Polish, Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan, Romany, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Tajik, Tatar, Turkmen, Ukrainian, Uzbek

Notes

Note

Periodicals and related materials donated to the Open Society Archives are described on the Archives' Library site

Description Control

Archivist's note

Processed by Olga Zaslavskaya, Irida Tase, Liana Galabova, Csaba Szilagyi, Pavol Salamon, Robert Parnica, Viktor Labos, Miklos Banyasz, Natasha Zanegina, Zsuzsanna Zadori and Joan Fairweather, 1996-2003.