Ukraine Archives and Libraries

Introduction

 * Ukrainian archives have preserved many historical records useful for genealogical research.
 * During the period of Soviet rule, archives centralized and preserved a vast holding of church records dating from 1721-1917, and other genealogical sources such as censuses and land records.
 * Ukrainian archives today continue to preserve records according to international archival standards.
 * The archives are centrally controlled by the State Archival Service of Ukraine, which administers about 700 archival institutions.
 * Access to archival records varies from archive to archive. Records may be available for research in reading rooms at the archives and some archives provide reference services by correspondence. Many archive records have been microfilmed or digitized by FamilySearch, although most records remain in their original paper form in the archives.

Archives of Ukraine Web Site

 * The official web-portal of the State Archival Service of Ukraine is Archives of Ukraine.
 * This site is available in English and provides links to the web pages of individual archives in Ukraine, with contact information, information about holdings, and other information about using the archive.
 * Online catalog information about holdings varies from archive to archive, with some providing more detail about the contents of their collections than others.
 * As far as is known, there are no online record images or indexes provided on the Archives of Ukraine web site or the web pages of the individual archives in Ukraine.

State Archival Service of Ukraine 24 Solom'ianska Street Kyiv 03110 Ukraine Phone: +380(44) 275-2777 Fax: +380(44) 275-3655 E-mail: info@arch.gov.ua Website: Archives of Ukraine
 * Central State Archives of Ukraine Links to contacts for various archives on the national level.
 * Regional State Archives of Ukraine Links to contacts for each state (province) archive.
 * Databases of archives of Ukraine Descriptions of record collections in each archive. Very helpful for determining whether the state archive has records that help with genealogy as opposed to just government business.

Organization of Records in Ukrainian Archives

 * All Ukrainian archive materials are assigned a record group (font), inventory (opis), and item (delo). Each item in an archive is defined by three numbers:fond, opis, and delo. The number at each level is simply a sequential number. Later insertions are given an alpha designation after the number such as 21a, 21b, etc.
 * A record group (fond) contains the records of a specific organization, portion of an organization, or individual.
 * An inventory (opis) is a list of items in a record group or collection. The inventory is the key to finding records in an archive.
 * An item (delo) can be a single volume, file, or even a single sheet of paper.
 * Each item is given a title based upon the record type and contents. Items are usually filed chronologically by the earliest year of information found in that item. Within a particular year, the items are supposed to be filed by degree of significance.

Endangered Archives
Endangered Archives: Ukraine

Libraries
Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine 3 Holosiivskyi Avenue 03039, Kyiv, Ukraine Phone: +38 (044) 524-81-36 E-mail: service@nbuv.gov.ua Website Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine: Holdings
 * "The Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine, VNLU (Ukrainian: Національна бібліотека України імені В.І. Вернадського) is the main academic library and main scientific information centre in Ukraine, one of the world's largest national libraries. Its main building is located in the capital of the country – Kyiv, in the Demiivka neighborhood. The library contains about 15 million items. The library has the most complete collection of Slavic writing, archives of outstanding world and Ukrainian scientists and cultural persons. The holdings include the collection of the presidents of Ukraine, archive copies of Ukrainian printed documents from 1917, and the archives of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine."

Libraria: Archive of Ukrainian Periodicals Online Archival Information Systems St. Avtozavodska, 54/19 Kyiv, 04114 Ukraine Phone : + 38(044) 290 0193 E-mail: info@libraria.ua Website

Museums
Google listing of Ukraine Museums

Record Offices
Civil registration offices exist at the local and regional levels. The Ministry of Justice is organized along regional lines and provides links to the websites of all these offices on its website.

Ministry of Justice of Ukraine 13, Gorodetskogo Str. Kiev, Ukraine 01001 Telephone: +38 (044) 278-37-23 Fax: +38 (044) 271-17-83 E-mail: themis@minjust.gov.ua
 * Application form
 * List of regional judicial offices