Let me ask you about your own history as a Job Function Email List researcher. What was it like working in the Soviet archives?
It was difficult. It was especially so in the 60s and 70s Job Function Email List because they didn't deliver catalogs or guides. They did not say what material they had. They didn't publish it either. So you had to talk to an archives clerk and say, "My subject is such-and-such, and I Job Function Email List want such-and-such stuff." So, of course, they could understand you better or worse, and they could be more or less collaborative. It was really difficult to get material that way, to the point that, in the Job Function Email List process, I learned a lot about bureaucracy and archives. If you asked for, for example.
, the minutes of the meetings of a certain institution, but the Job Function Email List minutes were called protocols, they might not bring them unless they liked you. But if you said "I want protocols" and they had protocols, they often felt compelled to bring them. And once you had the protocols or the minutes, then you could better continue the work, date Job Function Email List by date. Now, a lot of the archivists, those junior officials that I dealt with, they were tremendously helpful. They did what they could for me, and often very willingly. They may have suspected that Western powers were sending spies posing as historians in academic exchanges. However, if they saw you work regularly for a long time, they were convinced that you were really writing about history. They saw that you were doing your job and that you weren't just Job Function Email List sitting there. In my case, obviously, they decided that I was a true historian.
They did what they could for me, and often very willingly. They may Job Function Email List have suspected that Western powers were sending spies posing as historians in academic Job Function Email List exchanges. However, if they saw you work regularly for a long time, they were convinced Job Function Email List that you were really writing about history. They saw that you were doing your job and that you weren't just sitting there. In my case, obviously, they decided that I was a true historian. They did what they could for me.