Document Study Analysis and Source Study Analysis of the First 1897 General Census of the Russian Empire: Nominative Data

The article reviews archival funds and the preservation of the 1897 census nominative data, their source study analysis and document study analysis (structural and functional method, typological and classification methods). The source base is census papers stored in the Russian State Historical Archive (RGIA), the State Archive of Krasnoyarsk Krai (GAKK) and the State Archive in Tobolsk. The 1897 census nominative data were divided in two groups. These are first copies of census papers stored in the central archives (RGIA) and second copies stored in Russian regional archives and abroad. First copies are a great piece of luck since they were initially supposed to be recycled (used for paper manufacture). The RGIA first copies can boast specific features of census papers as far as their types and content are concerned. The military and general enumeration lists inform about the composition of Russian military troops and their technical staff in Finland, the Khanate of Bukhara and about some squadrons of the Russian fleet. Second copies are multiply stored in Russian regional archives and in some foreign countries, for instance, in the state archives of Yaroslavl Oblast, Tyumen Oblast, the Udmurt Republic, the Republic of Tatarstan, in Moscow, Tobolsk, the Republic of Belarus, the Ukraine, Latvia and Estonia. One of the largest census paper collections is stored in the State Archive in Tobolsk (over four thousand files with second copies covering all volosts of Ishim, Kurgan, Tara, Tobolsk, Turinsk, Tyukalinsk, Tyumen and Yalutorovsk okrugs (uyezds). All the files are digitized and presented in the information system of the State Archive in Tobolsk. The article describes the authors' approach to classifying first and second census paper copies. Several characteristics are considered: the population category and the type of data recorded. Census paper forms of each type are analyzed as well. The first characteristic allowed the authors to single out two categories of the population: rural (non-urban) and urban. The second characteristic made it possible to name primary statistical documents with aggregated data on settlements and households (lists to count population and covers) and documents with personal data (census papers). The authors carried out the structural and functional analysis as well as document study analysis of all the census paper forms. The comparison of the 1897 census primary documents showed the specificity of each form and of the way they were filled in by different population categories in the Russian Empire in the late 19th century. The source study analysis and the document study analysis of census papers allow researchers to take into account the specific character of forms when choosing a historical research line, forming a source base of a specific study and developing a source-oriented database.

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