everal questions have come up concerning the proper use of the headings: Russia/Soviet Union/Former Soviet republics. Originally, all subjects dealing with this area of the world were contained in the single heading: Russia until 1981 when it was changed to Soviet Union (See: CSB 12, Spring 1981, p. 53) All instances of Russia as a subject were changed automatically to Soviet Union.
In 1992, the practice was changed again. From an apparently simple premise ("The heading Soviet Union--History--Peter I, 1689-1725 makes no sense!"), has arisen a complex situation, which differs markedly from normal practice.

• Be aware that subject practices diverge sharply from descriptive practices. For names and titles, see: Russia/Soviet Union/Former Soviet republics: a short course in name and title headings

• Many records remain in the databases, both local and national, with the former practice, and often, catalogers can understand anomalies in present practice only when they know of the changes from earlier practice. All incorrect practices in this course are clearly labelled.

It is important to realize that the practice for R/SU/FSr varies from practice for other geographic headings. Although the Subject Cataloging Manual states that one subject heading should cover one geographic area, the heading myriad R/SU/FSr constitutes three headings for the single geographic entity.
This presents problems not seen in other subjects. Occasionally, subject headings may be tripled, while at other times, no changes from former practice will occur.

Chronology of Russia/Soviet Union/Former Soviet republics

The key to assigning correct subjects is to remember the dates of the political changes shown above. The general rule is:

For items published before 1917, the heading is Russia
For items published between 1917-1991, the heading is Soviet Union
For items published after 1991-, the heading is Former Soviet republics

*We will not discuss the headings Kievan Rus or Ukraine here.

It would be nice if the problem could be solved in such a mechanical fashion, but as often occurs with "simple" rules, applying them consistently is exceedingly complex. Below, we will examine several cases.

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Here is an example of a record that has had no changes. This book has an historical subject that deals only with the period of the Soviet Union.

The next record has undergone a slight change. The subject is also historical, but the period of time is only during the Russian Empire. The subjects change from Soviet Union to Russia.

Old record

Updated record

The next record is another example of no change. The subject assigned is Soviet Union, although in 1920, the Soviet Union had still not yet been named, and the word Russia appears in the title.

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The next examples shows some problems with history. All headings for pre-1917 Soviet Union change to Russia.

Old Record

Updated Record

This can get tricky. Care must be taken when changing headings and it must not be done automatically. Here is an example.

Old Record

If we merely changed the headings from Soviet Union to Russia, we would run into a quandry.

We should not forget that this is an index to literature written during 1962-1987, (during the time of the Soviet Union, not during the Russian Empire). Therefore, the correct headings are:

Other problems arise with general histories. For items dealing with different time periods, the subject headings must be doubled or tripled.

Doubled headings
This book deals with the periods of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, but it cannot deal with the period of the Former Soviet republics because of the publication date.

Tripled headings - a general history until 1993.

Single heading - deals only with the time period after the Soviet Union.

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Non-Historical subjects

For non-historical subjects, the practice changes and can become very complex. Assign subjects on the basis of the publication date, i.e. books published before 1917 get Russia; from 1917-1991, assign Soviet Union; after 1991, assign Former Soviet republics. These records will never be doubled or tripled.

Example: Birds
This general book on birds receives the heading for the Russian Empire, because it was published in 1892.

This general book on birds receives the heading for the Soviet Union because it was published in 1987.

Finally, this general book on birds receives the heading for the Former Soviet republics because it was published in 1993.

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Reprints

If the first two books shown above were reprinted in 1999, choose the original date for subject analysis. In this way, an original and its reprint do not get separated in the catalog.

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• Before we proceed with some of the more difficult situations, we must first discuss another (simpler) problem: what about republic subdivision?

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Russia/Soviet Union/Former Soviet republics or republic subdivision?

With individual republics of the former Soviet Union, the practice usually is more straightforward, but we can still run into some tricky points. The major question is: should a heading from R/SU/FSr be used or should it be a local division?
We begin with two simple examples.

The next example shows a normal update to validate headings. Russian S.F.S.R. (never valid as a geographic subject) is changed to Russia (Federation).
The qualifier on Siberia, Eastern (R.S.F.S.R.) in turn changes to Siberia, Eastern (Russia (Federation)).
But RI23.4B states that the qualifier of a qualifier drops out. Therefore, the heading is Siberia, Eastern (Russia).

• Russian S.F.S.R. is never valid as a geographic subject (651 or ‡z)
• Russian S.F.S.R. is valid as a name heading (110, 610, 710, 810)

Old record

Updated Record

• Remember that although the NAF/SAF heading does not show the word Federation in the qualifier, all geographic subjects with the qualifier (Russia) are actually qualified by Russia (Federation). The word Federation does not appear until indirect subdivision takes place.Natural resources--Russia--Siberia, Eastern. is never valid.

• Descriptive qualifiers are completely different and will be discussed in another course.

A normal update for another former republic of the Soviet Union.

The old heading Kirghiz S.S.R. updates to Kyrgyzstan.

It can still get rather tricky. Here is a more complex example.

In this case, Georgian S.S.R updates, but Soviet Union stays the same since the publication date is 1987.

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Additional problems arise when subjects could be considered either historical or non-historical. The next book deals with the protection of monuments created before 1917, but being protected by the Soviet government.
Soviet Union--Antiquities is especially difficult.

In these cases, LC tends to opt for republic level geographic subdivision, even in less clear situations.

Of course, other records present their own peculiarities. This book deals with the period after 1992. The headings concern the Former Soviet republics, but there is still substantial material on the Russian Federation. Thankfully, it does not deal with the pre-1991 period, since then we would have to double the headings.

This does not exhaust the possibilities. What if it is a work of biography? A person could have been born during the Russian Empire, but survived to see the end of the Soviet Union. What if it is a catalog of an exhibition of art works produced in Russia/Soviet Union/Former Soviet Republics? The attempt to find consistency can become very confusing and the resulting guidelines can become quite complex.
We shall discuss each of these at length.

Biography: Overview

When determining the geographic division for a work of biography, problems often arise. Some are solved through the application of the general rule.

The general rule For people living before 1917, use Russia. For those whose primary career was from 1917-1991, use Soviet Union. The only time LC has assigned Biography with Former Soviet republics is for books such as Who's who in Russia and the CIS countries.

Still other problems can arise. The first is when a person's lifetime has spanned different eras. The second is whether to use the geographic areas for the Russia/Soviet Union/Former Soviet republics, or an independent republic subdivision.

When people's lifetimes span different eras, and their careers change along with the government, the subject analysis becomes more complex, e.g.

A biography of Lenin.

Explanation:
Lenin was a revolutionary against the Russian Empire, but the head of the Soviet state.

A biography of Lidiia Dan, a Menshevik and opponent of the tsarist regime who emigrated in 1922.

Explanation:
Ms. Dan was a Menshevik during the periods of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, but she was a revolutionary only against the Russian Empire. The headings for --Politics and government are changed for historical reasons, and the --20th century for the Soviet Union becomes redundant.

A biography of Boris Savinkov, a revolutionary executed in 1925.

Explanation:
Savinkov was a revolutionary against both the Russian Empire and the Soviet state.

• To provide for the highest level of consistency in headings, and to avoid the difficulty of choosing a single heading, in case of doubt, double.

Below are some more examples.

Doubled Heading

Explanation:
Prokofiev composed during the periods of both the Russian Empire and Soviet Union.

Single heading

Compare the following two records.

Explanation:
The first book was published in 1990, before the end of the Soviet Union. The doubling that takes place in the second record reflects later developments. Notice also that the doubling is with Soviet Union and Russia (Federation), not with Former Soviet republics.

As difficult as it is for catalogers to make these distinctions, it must be considered beyond the abilities of a general user.

To deal with this problem, Princeton has included notes in the public catalog.
See: OPAC Notes for the Former Soviet republics

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Exhibitions

A particularly difficult area of subject analysis comes with exhibitions of art work. Questions concerning: where were these items made? and when were these items made? can be confused with where were these items held at the time of the exhibition?

• According to SCM H1250, a heading is always assigned for the place where the items were produced. This may be formulated with a geographic subdivision or as an integral part of the heading.

Example of geographic subdivision. (--Russia)

Explanation:
All the items in this exhibition were created before 1917.

Example of integral part of the heading. (Art, Russian)

Explanation:
The art was produced during the period of the Soviet Union. Consideration must also be given to the heading: Art, Soviet, but precedence is given to Art, Russian because of the emphasis on "Russian revolutionary art".

Clear guidelines have never appeared for the use of headings such as Art, Soviet, which appeared in the early 1990's. In CSB 12, Spring 1981, p. 53, the guideline said that "The use of the adjective Russian referring either to the Russian language or the Soviet Union will be retained." They went on to explain that Russian was more convenient for cataloging purposes.