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Search non-Latin records

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Discover how to search for non-Latin script records in Record Manager.

Enter searches

The WorldShare interface supports all UTF-8 Unicode defined characters for non-Latin script search terms, which includes the following non-Latin, MARC-8 scripts: Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, and Korean, as well as all of the UTF-8 Unicode character sets.

  • Search for records containing non-Latin script data using either script search terms or romanized (Latin-script equivalent) search terms.
  • Alternatively, copy and paste non-Latin script data into searches from sources external to WorldShare.
    • Non-Latin script search terms must be based on Unicode.
    • If Unicode characters that are not convertible are in the search term, you may find no matching records.
  • About using search indexes for non-Latin script search terms:
    • Use the same indexes (labels and punctuation) for non-Latin script searches that you use for Latin script searches. Enter the index labels and punctuation using Latin script.
    • Add the same qualifiers to both Latin and non-Latin script searches. Enter them using Latin script.
    • Browsing to scan indexes for a match is available for any supported script. Browsing scans for the exact data string followed by any other data, providing automatic truncation. Enter only as many characters as are unique enough to retrieve matching record(s).
    • For Arabic, Armenian, Bengali, Cyrillic, Devanagari, Ethiopic, Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, and Tamil script searches, use word or phrase search indexes and word or phrase browse indexes.
    • For CJK script searches, the system indexes both single characters and immediately adjacent characters in a field. Use the following search strategies:
      • Word search – Enter an index label and a colon (for example, ti:) followed by a character string with no spaces to find a single word, or followed by more than one character string separated by a space to find multiple words, anywhere in an indexed field.
      • Phrase search – Enter an index label and an equal sign (for example, ti=) followed by a character string to find exact occurrences, starting with the first character in an indexed field and including each succeeding character. Truncate the character string to find the string followed by any other data without having to enter the entire data string as it appears in a field or subfield.

Browse using an index

Browse bibliographic records using an index

  1. From the Data Type drop-down list, select Bibliographic Records.
  2. From the Scope drop-down list, select All WorldCat - Browse.
  3. From the Index drop-down list, select an index. See Searching WorldCat Indexes for more information on available indexes.
  4. Based on the index you selected, enter your search terms in the Term(s) text field. The text field will expand to fit your search terms, if needed.
  5. Click Search. In the search results, you will not only see the specific term for which you searched (Search match icon), but also the surrounding terms. Click an index term to view the associated records.

Examples 

  • ara AND yr:1991-1992 (search for Arabic script records limited to those published in 1991 and 1992)
  • vp:ara and la:per (search for Arabic script records limited to those describing Persian language items)

See the following Search guide for more information on search methods.

Search for records by language using Advanced Search

  1. On the left navigation, click Advanced Search.
  2. From the Search Scope drop-down list, select a search scope.
  3. Select an Index from the list. See Searching WorldCat Indexes for more information on available indexes.
  4. Based on the index you selected, enter your search terms into the text field. The text field will expand to fit your search terms, if needed.
  5. From the Language(s) drop-down menu, select the language(s) of the item.
  6. From the Language(s) of Cataloging drop-down list, select the language(s) used for the description of the item.
  7. Click Search.