Ukrainian Scientific Institute of Bibliology

Ukrainian Scientific Institute of Bibliology (Український науково-дослідний інститут книгознавства, or УНІК; Ukrainskyi naukovo-doslidnyi instytut knyhoznavstva, or UNIK). A scholarly research institution established in Kyiv in 1922 on the basis of the Supreme Book Chamber (est 1919; see Book Chamber of the Ukrainian SSR). Under its director, Yurii Mezhenko, UNIK undertook the study of general and Ukrainian bibliology and bibliography and the history of printing, developed library science methodology, offered courses in bibliography and library science, prepared various bibliographic guides to Soviet Ukrainian publications, and amassed a valuable catalog and library of Ukrainian publications. Its staff and research associates (approximately 50 people) were divided into four sections: the history of the book (chaired by Serhii Maslov), the sociology of the book (D. Balyka), book art and technology (Mykola O. Makarenko), and bibliography (T. Aleksieiev and V. Shpilievych). UNIK published research in bibliography, library science, and the history of Ukrainian printing, the Ukrainian press, and Ukrainian book art in its serials Bibliolohichni visti (25 issues, 1923–30), Trudy (4 issues, 1926–30), and Naukovi zapysky (2 issues, 1933), and in over 60 books and brochures. Its activities declined with the onset of the Stalinist terror and the persecution of its staff. Mezhenko was replaced as director by S. Yakubovsky in 1931, and UNIK was closed down in 1934.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]