How can I search HOLLIS using a non-Latin script (character set) such as Arabic, Cyrillic, Devanagari, Chinese, Japanese, or Korean?

Talk to an expert

Materials in non-Latin scripts are tricky to search for. If you are doing extensive searching in a vernacular script, please contact the library and ask to be connected with an expert for that script or language.

HOLLIS accepts non-Latin scripts

You can type non-Latin scripts directly into HOLLIS’s search boxes. HOLLIS generally ignores accents and other diacritical marks: you should get the same results whether you include them or not. 

Do punctuation and diacritics (accents) matter when searching HOLLIS? 

Results are limited by available data

If you search in the original script, your results are likely to skew toward more recently cataloged materials and more “Articles” items. 

Many older HOLLIS records, especially Library Catalog records cataloged prior to 2009, use romanization only. Original-script search terms will not find these records. Most Harvard catalogers recommend searching first with romanized terms.

What is romanization? Does HOLLIS use it?

Unicode troubleshooting

If your searches are not working as you expected, it may be due to a unicode mismatch. Your computer uses unicode to render the letters and characters you see onscreen. Each character is assigned a unique numeric value that makes it machine-readable: where you see Ð–, your computer sees U+4106.

  • More information about potential unicode issues: Where is my character?
  • Find a free unicode lookup tool - copy and paste a character or word from any HOLLIS record, then type in the same character or word using your keyboard and confirm that the unicode matches
  • Experiment with different options for input keyboards in your computer's settings

 

Have another HOLLIS question? Our HOLLIS User Guide provides an overview of HOLLIS's features and functions.

Service Alert:
  • We're experiencing difficulty with our Research Appointment Request form (under "Meet"). For now, please click on "Email" and describe for us: 
    •  your Harvard affiliation
    • the project you'd like help with
    • whether it's for a particular class, faculty member or department

 

 

Chat

 

Monday-Thursday 9am-9pm
Friday 9am-5pm
Saturday Closed
Sunday 12-7pm

Chat is intended for brief inquiries from the Harvard community.

Meet

Talk to a librarian for advice on defining your topic, developing your research strategy, and locating and using sources. Make an appointment now.

These services are intended primarily for Harvard University faculty, staff and students. If you are not affiliated with Harvard, please use these services only to request information about the Library and its collections.