Working with RussianSpeaking Customers

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Working with Russian-Speaking Customers
Nataliya Bakunina, Dakota County Library
Svetlana Pavlova, Pierre Bottineau Stephanie
Steinwedel, Ridgedale Steve Stuber, Ridgedale

• Dec. 10, 2008

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Which of these people speak Russian?
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They all do.
Tajik
Buryat
Armenian
Korean-Russian
Estonian
Russian
Chechen
Kazakh-Russian
Ukrainian
Inuit
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What Well Cover

• A Brief Overview of Geography and History
• Minnesotas Russian-Speaking Immigrants
• Cultural Differences
• Library Differences
• Tools for Helping Russian-Speaking Customers
• Questions

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Russia Today
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Russia Today

• The largest country in the world
• Covers one-eighth the worlds land area,
• Extends across Europe and Northern Asia,
• Spans eleven time zones,
• Home to the worlds ninth largest population.
• One of the most diverse countries, comprising of
  over 160 ethnic groups.

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Russias Past 9th 15th Centuries
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Russias Past 9th 15th Centuries

• Late 9th century The first Russian state is
  formed in Kiev
• 998 Russia converts to Christianity and adopts
  the Cyrillic alphabet.
• 13th 15th centuries Mongol Rule
• Asian influences on Russian culture, while
  missing out on European innovations during the
  Renaissance.

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Russias Past 1613 1917 The Romanovs
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Russias Past 1613 1917 The Romanovs

• Late 19th century Expansion into the Russian Far
  East and Central Asia is aided by the
  construction of the Trans-Siberian Railroad.
• Peter I and Catherine II are westernizers and
  reformers
• St. Petersburg is built to be the Window to the
  West and becomes the capital of Russia in the
  early 18th century.
• 1861 Emancipation of serfs.
• Beginning of the 20th century Civil unrest and
  revolutions.

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Russias Past 1918 1991 The Soviet Union
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Russias Past 1918 1991 The Soviet Union

• 1918 The Communists take control of Russia.
• 1920 1940 The Soviet Union is comprised of
  fifteen Soviet Socialist Republics made up from
  regions from the Caucasus, Central Asia and the
  Baltics.
• With its 15 Soviet Socialist Republics
• the Soviet Union is situated on one-sixth of the
  Earths total land area
• Home to the worlds third largest population,
  having more than 200 ethnic groups residing
  within the country.
• Russian becomes the official language of the
  Soviet Union

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Russias Past 1918 1991 The Soviet Union

• Joseph Stalins reign of terror
• Nikita Khrushchevs thaw in Soviet ideology, a
  cultural shift.
• Destroys Stalins cult of personality
• Relaxes censorship
• Leonid Brezhnev curtails Khrushchevs reforms
• Mikhail Gorbachevs reforms
• Glasnost (openness in press)
• Perestroika (restructuring)
• Democratization
• 1991 Under economic strain, the Soviet Union
  collapses

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Russias Past 1991 Post-Soviet collapse
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Russias Past 1991 Post-Soviet collapse

• Problems within the republics
• No actual borders, boundaries had been created,
  but not officially recognized
• Former Soviet citizens are no longer free to
  travel from one country to the next
• Some citizens find themselves displaced in
  countries other than their own when the collapse
  happens
• Distancing of peoples within Former Soviet
  Republics that are not of the local ethnic group
• National languages replace Russian (A
  Russian-speaker may not be Russian)
• Resurging nationalistic pride
• Rise in immigration.

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Minnesotas Russian-Speaking Immigrants
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A Little Background

• Mid-1800s
• Late 1800s 1914 (World War I)
• Between WWI and WWII
• Post-WWII to the early 1970s

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Russian-Speakers in Minnesota Today
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The 1970s Wave

• Starting in the early 1970s, the Soviet Union
  encouraged Jews, Germans, Armenians, and
  Pentecostal Ukrainians to emigrate
• 90 who left were Jewish

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The 1970s Wave, cont.

• Many settled in Minnesota, with help from local
  Jewish community organizations
• Tended to be older and well-educated

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The Latest Wave

• With the Soviet Unions decline in the late 1980s
  and early 1990s, a new wave of immigrants began
  to arrive in the United States and Minnesota

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The Latest Wave, cont.

• Jews of the former Soviet Union continue to
  settle in the U.S. and Minnesota, but they are
  being joined by significant numbers of Baptists
  and Pentecostal Christians.

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The Latest Wave, cont.

• From 1996 to 2006, US Citizenship and Immigration
  Service reported admitting about 11700
  immigrants from the Former Soviet Union who
  intended to live in Minnesota, with an average of
  a little over 1000 per year.
• MN Dept of Health reports a total of 8462 refugee
  arrivals from the Former Soviet Union from
  1979-2007, with an average of a little over 290
  per year.

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The Latest Wave, cont.

• The Baptist and Pentecostal Christian immigrants
  tend to be younger, with larger families.
• They are settling in St. Louis Park, but also
  other suburbs like Shakopee, Apple Valley/Eagan,
  and Crystal/Brooklyn Park/Plymouth.
• Tend to be more working class

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Why Minnesota?

• or
• more
• likely

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Why Minnesota?, cont.

• More political and religious freedom
• Better economic opportunities
• Joining family members already in the United
  States
• Marrying American citizens
• Studying
• Green Card/Lottery

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Cultural Differences
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Cultural Differences

• Before we begin
• Russian-speakers are many different nationalities
  and have many different histories
• The dissolution of the U.S.S.R was so recent that
  cultural differences are still being negotiated
• These are just guidelines, not rules.

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Cultural Differences

• Personal Space

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Cultural Differences

• Body Language

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Cultural Differences

• Tone of Voice/Inflection

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Cultural Differences

• Attitude Toward Authority

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Cultural Differences

• Self-Assurance

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Cultural Differences

• Customer Service
• Russian speakers may be more likely than others
  to avoid asking for help if they feel their their
  English language skills are limited.
• Also more likely to argue fines they believe it
  will affect their credit history

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Cultural Differences

• General Observations
• One circ might equal many uses
• As understanding of America and the system
  increase, so might expectations
• Personal relationships

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Differences between Former Soviet Union and
American Libraries
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(No Transcript)
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Similarities

• Funded by the government (mostly)
• Types of libraries academic, public,
  specialized, national, etc.
• ILL services
• Charges for lost materials

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Differences

• Russia

• USA

Administrative Organization

• Mostly library systems (public libraries)
• Function slightly differently

• City, district, regional, national level
  (non-system)
• Function similarly

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Differences, Cont.

• Russia

• USA

Services

• No reciprocity using library cards
• No deliveries between the libraries
• Limited open access

• One size fits all
• Deliveries
• Mostly open access

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Differences, Cont.

• Russia

• USA

• Circulation is limited to checking out printed
  materials
• Materials are returned during open hours
• Reference is limited
• Programming is limited to educational
• All staff are called librarians

• Wide selection of materials
• Book drops
• Reference is all inclusive
• Wide range of programs
• Divide between professional and paraprofessional
  staff

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Practical Tools for Helping Russian-Speaking
Customers
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Russian Names
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Russian Names

• Russians have three names a first (or given)
  name a patronymic (middle) and a last (or sur-)
  name.
• For example
• Alexander (first name) Sergeyevich
  (patronymic) Pushkin (last name)
• Tatiana (first name) Vassilievna
  (patronymic) Ivanova (last name)

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Russian Names

• First name is the given name selected for the
  baby by the parents. As in English, many Russian
  names have full and short or diminutive forms.
• Nikolai - Kolya - Kolenka
• Pavel - Pasha - Pashka
• Anna - Anya - Annushka
• Maria - Masha - Mashenka

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Russian Names

• Patronymics are derived from your fathers first
  name. Your gender determines the form of your
  patronymic name.
• Man Alexander Sergeyevich
• patronymic name is Sergeyevich, which means his
  fathers name is Sergei.
• Woman Alexandra Sergeyevna
• patronymic name is Sergeyevna, which means her
  fathers name is also Sergei.

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Russian Names

• Last names usually have both masculine and
  feminine variants
• Ivanov - Ivanova
• Pushkin - Pushkina
• Tolstoy - Tolstaya
• Gorbachev - Gorbacheva

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Ukrainian last names

• "ko" Shevchenko, Timoshenko
• "uk" Ivanchuk, Bondarchuk
• "ch" Pugach, Drubich

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Russian Jewish names

• Last names Feldman, Shapiro, Fridman,
  Rabinovich, Brodsky, Zaslavsky, Kogan, Reznik,
  Kats, Goldshtein, Grinberg, Kaplan
• First names Maria, Sofia, Anna, Raisa, Sarra,
  Rosa, Ida, Klara, Riva Mikhail, Boris, Gregory,
  Leonid, Efim, Lev, Iosif, Isak, Ilia, Mark, David

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Cataloging and Subject Headings
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Cataloging and Subject Headings

• Russian language materials
• Russian films
• Russian books
• Detective and mystery stories, Russian
• Motion pictures, Russian
• FilmsSoviet Union -- DVDs
• Childrens stories, Russian

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Cataloging and Subject Headings

• For items published
• Before 1917, the heading used is Russia
• From 1917-1991, the heading is Soviet Union
• After 1991-, the heading is Former Soviet
  republics

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Cyrillic Alphabet
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Cyrillic Alphabet

• Cyrillic is a family of alphabets
• Slavic languages
• Belarusian, Bulgarian,Macedonian, Russian,
  Serbian and Ukranian
• non-Slavic
• Kazakh, Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Tajik and Mongolian

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Transliteration

• The romanization of the Russian alphabet is the
  process of transliterating the Russian language
  from the Cyrillic alphabet and into the Latin
  alphabet, such as the English alphabet.

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Transliteration

• Some cyrillic letters have English equivalents
  A,K, M, O, but there are unique letters
• ? - yo, io
• ? - i, y
• ? - yu, iu
• ? - ya, ia

Library of Congress Transliteration Table
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Transliteration

• Here are some examples of different
  transliterations of the same word
• Chechnia Chechnya
• Vysotskii Vysotsky
• Yurii Iury Iurii

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Questions?????????
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???????!

• We look forward to getting your feedback

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Practical Tools for Helping Russian-Speaking
Customers
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Russian Names
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Russian Names

• Russians have three names a first (or given)
  name a patronymic (middle) and a last (or sur-)
  name.
• For example
• Alexander (first name) Sergeyevich
  (patronymic) Pushkin (last name)
• Tatiana (first name) Vassilievna
  (patronymic) Ivanova (last name)

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Russian Names

• First name is the given name selected for the
  baby by the parents. As in English, many Russian
  names have full and short or diminutive forms.
• Nikolai - Kolya - Kolenka
• Pavel - Pasha - Pashka
• Anna - Anya - Annushka
• Maria - Masha - Mashenka

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Russian Names

• Patronymics are derived from your fathers first
  name. Your gender determines the form of your
  patronymic name.
• Man Alexander Sergeyevich
• patronymic name is Sergeyevich, which means his
  fathers name is Sergei.
• Woman Alexandra Sergeyevna
• patronymic name is Sergeyevna, which means her
  fathers name is also Sergei.

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Russian Names

• Last names usually have both masculine and
  feminine variants
• Ivanov - Ivanova
• Pushkin - Pushkina
• Tolstoy - Tolstaya
• Gorbachev - Gorbacheva

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Ukrainian last names

• "ko" Shevchenko, Timoshenko
• "uk" Ivanchuk, Bondarchuk
• "ch" Pugach, Drubich

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Russian Jewish names

• Last names Feldman, Shapiro, Fridman,
  Rabinovich, Brodsky, Zaslavsky, Kogan, Reznik,
  Kats, Goldshtein, Grinberg, Kaplan
• First names Maria, Sofia, Anna, Raisa, Sarra,
  Rosa, Ida, Klara, Riva Mikhail, Boris, Gregory,
  Leonid, Efim, Lev, Iosif, Isak, Ilia, Mark, David

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Cataloging and Subject Headings
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Cataloging and Subject Headings

• Russian language materials
• Russian films
• Russian books
• Detective and mystery stories, Russian
• Motion pictures, Russian
• FilmsSoviet Union -- DVDs
• Childrens stories, Russian

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Cataloging and Subject Headings

• For items published
• Before 1917, the heading used is Russia
• From 1917-1991, the heading is Soviet Union
• After 1991-, the heading is Former Soviet
  republics

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Cyrillic Alphabet
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Cyrillic Alphabet

• Cyrillic is a family of alphabets
• Slavic languages
• Belarusian, Bulgarian,Macedonian, Russian,
  Serbian and Ukranian
• non-Slavic
• Kazakh, Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Tajik and Mongolian

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Transliteration

• The romanization of the Russian alphabet is the
  process of transliterating the Russian language
  from the Cyrillic alphabet and into the Latin
  alphabet, such as the English alphabet.

74
Transliteration

• Some cyrillic letters have English equivalents
  A,K, M, O, but there are unique letters
• ? - yo, io
• ? - i, y
• ? - yu, iu
• ? - ya, ia

Library of Congress Transliteration Table
75
Transliteration

• Here are some examples of different
  transliterations of the same word
• Chechnia Chechnya
• Vysotskii Vysotsky
• Yurii Iury Iurii

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Questions?????????
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???????!

• We look forward to getting your feedback