On Monday, February 11, 2008, researchers encountered something new while searching the Stanford University Libraries' catalog, Socrates, for materials in Arabic and Hebrew.
Display and Search in Arabic and Hebrew
That was the day when, for the first time, catalog records in Socrates displayed the original script for most items published in those languages. It was also the day when it became possible for readers to search the catalog using the Arabic or Hebrew alphabets.
Previously the only display option in Socrates for Arabic and Hebrew works - and the only way to conduct searches - was in transliteration into Latin script. (That option remains available to researchers.)
Language Keyboards for Searching
In order to search in these two alphabets it is necessary to install the appropriate language keyboards on a computer. Once these keyboards are enabled, one can switch between scripts and search in Socrates (as well as in other databases) in Arabic and Hebrew.
Language Keyboards on Public Computer Kiosks
Keyboards for several languages and scripts - including Arabic and Hebrew - have already been installed on all of the public computer kiosks in the Lane Reading Room in Green Library (2nd floor, Bing Wing), and they will soon be installed on other public kiosks in Green and in the branch libraries on the Stanford campus.
Displaying Non-Latin Scripts
Most computers are already able to display non-Latin scripts because Web browsers are generally equipped with the appropriate language coding and fonts.
For instructions on how to display, search, print, and mail Socrates catalog records in non-Latin scripts, see the Web page Unicode Help for Socrates Users, on the SULAIR Web site.
Plans for the Future
This is the first publicly visible phase of a project that has been ongoing for a number of years and will continue until most of the world's major scripts are included. Soon to come in Socrates, by the end of 2008: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Cyrillic languages.
