Today we pass on the job advert of colleagues at the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge. They search for a new person responsible for the world’s top Russian Arctic science library outside of Russia. The SPRI Russian library is really unique, I can tell from my own studies there. They have almost everything, and their catalogue also includes english abstracts of Russian books, which is extremely helpful. The library has a lot of ethnography and anthropology of the Russian Arctic. Anyone interested can apply, here the text of colleague Piers Vitebsky below:
“… the Russian section of the library might become a mammoth – huge and mighty, but stuck in permafrost and not evolving. But I’m very happy to say that the institute is now advertising for a replacement Russian bibliographer. The deadline is 24 March and the link to the advert is:
The position combines expertise in both Russian and bibliography. I have asked and been told that a good scholarly knowledge of Russian (for example through experience of using library sources for one’s own research) is more essential than a formal qualification in librarianship. Though this is not specified in the advert, it seems that knowledge of the Russian North, and/or of sourcing material from Russian publishers, would also be a clear advantage.
I have also been told that the university should be able to appoint the most suitable person regardless of nationality. This opens the way to applications from continental Europe, North America and Russia too. (Obviously, fluent English will also be essential.)
We all know that this is one of the world’s key positions for supporting research on Siberia and the Russian North, and will want to make sure that really good people apply.”
Arctic Anthropology 