Ukraїnica abroad

A resource between science, state-building and international relations

Abstract

Shortly after Ukraine's declaration of independence in 1991, a comprehensive programme for the description and management of retrospective information was developed at the Academy of Sciences in Kyiv – Archival and Manuscript Ukraїnica. Its main purpose was to identify all documentary sources related to   the history of Ukraine (e.g. archival documents and manuscripts) and to record and describe them in a national information database. According to that, the Ukraїnica not only refers to the entirety of archival holdings and Ukrainian museum collections and library resources in the country, but also to traditions located outside the country. With the resumption of work on the Ukraїnica in the 1990s, the idea of a catalogue of the Ukraїnica, as it had been developed   during the period of the Ukrainian People's Republic (1917-1918), came back into focus of public interest. The article highlights the institutional and personal continuities and ruptures, and briefly outlines the political and social contexts, enabling a classification of ‘Ukrainica’ in the context of contemporary historical developments.