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The system of social science information services in the USSR comprises the Instit of Scientific Information on the Social Sciences of the USSR Academy of Sciences (INION), several branch information services, regional information services integrated into the structure of the Academies of Sciences of Soviet socialist republics, a network of information-processing departments attached to scientific humanities institutions & Us & a number of bibliographical centers. Presently the main aim in the development of the system is its optimization on the basis of clear differentiation of the scientific information institutions' functions. INION coordinates, at the national level, information activities in the social sciences, collects & abstracts Soviet & foreign literature on the social sciences, & publishes abstracts, bibliographical materials, & analytical surveys of scientific literature. INION & its branches possess holdings of literature amounting to 9,760,000 units of printed output, systematically enriched by the local & foreign scientific publications. INION maintains constant contacts involving exchange with 1,557 organizations in sixty-six countries. It is well equipped technically & has proceeded to the first stage in the elaboration of its own integral automated information system, enabling it to carry out exchanges of magnetic tapes & liaison channels. Vast prospects for the European states' cooperation in the field of social sciences information exist. The conference of European centers of information & documentation (Moscow, June 1977) adopted recommendations concerning the problems to be solved in view of cooperation development, foreseeing an expansion of international exchanges of books, abstracts, bibliographies, & microfiches, cooperation in the copilation of international bibliographies, the elaboration of proposals on the international standardization of information, exchange of information on methodology, etc. The European Co-ordination Centre for Research & Documentation in Social Sciences in Vienna could play a decisive role in the realization of all these recommendations. AA.

In this article, we discuss the historical development of various methodological approaches used by social scientists. The well-known divide between the positivist and constructivist traditions is alive and well in the variety of recent methodologies including those discussed in these issues. More recent developments include nonlinear approaches intended to deal with the complexity of the world as it presents itself. The advent of new technologies has expanded the reach of quantitative methods while also increasing the efficiency of data collections and analyses performed by qualitative researchers. Another trend is toward making research findings more relevant to the communities being researched. Innovation is the key theme of each article that is summarized in this essay. The developments captured by the authors presage a brave new world of continuing innovation in social science methodologies.