Editorial

Abstract

Welcome to the combined issue of Slavic & East European Information Resources (SEEIR), Volume 21, Issues 1–2. This issue marks several changes in editorship, which commenced on January 1, 2020. The new Editor is Jon C. Giullian, Librarian for Slavic & Eurasian Studies at the University of Kansas. SEEIR also welcomes Brendan Nieubuurt (Librarian for Slavic, East European & Eurasian Studies, University of Michigan) as the section editor of The Internet column; and two co-editors of the In Our Libraries column, Ksenya Kiebuzinski (Slavic Resources Coordinator, University of Toronto) and Christine Jacobsn (Assistant Curator of Modern Books and Manuscripts, Harvard University). Thanks to Janet Crayne (retired Slavic, East European & Eurasian Studies Librarian, University of Michigan) and Anna Arays (Librarian for Slavic and East European Studies, Yale University), who continue as the editors for the Memoirs column and Book Reviews section, respectively. I would like to express appreciation to the former Editor, Dan M. Pennell (Bibliographer for Russian, East European, Germanic and Global Studies, University of Pittsburgh), for his service in leading the journal through a period of transition and ongoing contraction of the field of librarianship for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian studies. Dan followed in the footsteps of Karen Rondestvedt (retired Curator for Slavic & East European Collections, Stanford University), who was instrumental in founding the journal in 2000 and served as its Editor from 2001–2016. The impact of Karen’s contribution to our field cannot be overstated. The prospect of serving as the next SEEIR Editor was daunting tome, and the process of working through my first regular issue has not disappointed in this respect; and yet, I am grateful for the challenge this new role offers, for the opportunity to serve in a capacity that stretches my abilities, and for the chance to give back to the field that has given so much to me. I am grateful especially to Dan Pennell, who has guided me through the initial stages of my term of service and for answering my many questions. I would like to thank all of the section editors, who have been so prompt and professional in editing their columns. This issue of the journal would not be possible without their dedicated service. I would also like to thank everyone who submitted manuscripts to the journal and especially to those whose contributions comprise this issue. Their patience during the transition period and their perseverance with themany editorial suggestions are appreciated. And finally, I would like to thank all of you, the readers of this journal for your continual support. Without you, there would be no reason for the journal to exist. So without further ado, I present to you the latest issue of Slavic & East European Information Resources, Volume 21, Issues 1–2 for 2020. This issue consists of two historical articles, two descriptions of library collections, a report on Russian digital media on the internet, one memoir, and two book reviews. The Articles section opens with Ksenya Kiebuzinski’s history of the Slavic and East European collection at the University of Toronto. Kiebuzinski traces the evolution of the university library’s collection of Slavic and East European materials, from the ashes of the library’s “Great Fire,” when the university received its first three of many gift books about the region, to the beginning of the “Deep Freeze” of the Cold War in 1948. The article draws upon a vast array of documents held in the University of Toronto’s archives, such as accession ledgers, letters of library and university administrators, reports, newsletters, and yearbooks; in addition to articles from local newspapers and SLAVIC & EAST EUROPEAN INFORMATION RESOURCES 2020, VOL. 21, NOS. 1–2, 1–4 https://doi.org/10.1080/15228886.2020.1757109