Hebrew Script Languages: Search/Display Hints

Records in Hebrew script languages (Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, Judeo-Arabic, and others) in the Library of Congress Online Catalog are cataloged using a romanized (transliterated) script (see ALA-LC Romanization Tables). However, in many of these records, some information is also provided in Hebrew script (e.g., names, titles, publishers, etc.).

In order to display records and view the non-Roman scripts (like Hebrew), please see help on Displaying Non-Roman Characters in the Online Catalog.

Searching in Hebrew Script Languages

There are two ways to search the records containing Hebrew script:

• enter search words using Roman characters
• enter search words using Hebrew characters

Because Hebrew characters are not included in records created before 1987 and not in all of those created since then, only romanized searches will give comprehensive results.

On Nov. 22, 2005, an author search for גלאטשטיין, י retrieved 1 record while "glatstein, j" retrieved 36.

In order to enter Hebrew characters, you must use the appropriate Input Method Editor (IME) (view more help on installing and using IMEs). No matter which method of searching you use, the resulting records will display the romanized script along with the Hebrew character portions of the record if both are present in the record.

In pre-2005 Hebrew script records, non-Roman fields containing numerals, brackets, parentheses, and other marks of punctuation may not display correctly because of problems in intersystem data transfer. (For an example of incorrect display, look at the publication date in the non-Roman "Published/Created" field of the Hebrew record shown at the beginning of this document.) These incorrect displays are being corrected to the extent possible as they are encountered in cataloging.

Tips for searching Hebrew script language records using Roman characters:

Note: In order for special characters such as ‘ayin and alef and diacritical marks to display correctly, your Web font must be Arial Unicode MS. To set the font, click on the Tools menu at the top of your screen, then on Internet Options, then on Fonts, and then select Arial Unicode MS.

1. Use the system employed in the ALA-LC Romanization Tables. In addition, please follow these rules for entering a romanized search:
• Ignore diacritical marks
  • search "hevrah" not "̣hevrah" for חברה
  • search "sason" not "śaśon" for ששון
2. Disregard sheva na' when not pronounced in Israeli Hebrew
   • search "shomrim" not "shomerim" for שומרים
   • but search "ketivah" not "ktivah" for כתיבה
3. Disregard consonant doubling
   • search "medaber" not "medabber"
4. Use a hyphen to separate prefixed particles (e.g., the definite article "ha-," the conjunction "̣ve-" or "̣va-," prepositions like "le-," and combinations of these particles) from the word to which they are prefixed
   • search "ha-bayit" not "habayit" for הבית
   • search "ve-hayu" not "vehayu" for והיו
   • search "vela-moreh" not "velamoreh" or "ve-lamoreh" for ולמורה
5. Numbers and dates expressed in Hebrew letters are romanized as Arabic numerals
   • search "helek 12" not "helek y"b" for חלק י"ב
   • search "708" not "tashah" for תש"ח
6. Spaces may be substituted for hyphens
   • search "Tel Aviv" or "Tel-Aviv" to retrieve תל-אביב

For more details about the Hebrew and Yiddish romanization systems employed by the Library of Congress, see p. 8-34 of Paul Maher's Hebraica Cataloging (Washington, D.C. : Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, 1987) >> link to document in MS Word format

Tips for searching Hebrew script language records using non-Roman characters:

1. To be sure of finding all appropriate records, search both full (ketiv male) and incomplete (ketiv ̣haser) spellings
   • to find "" search both ליקוט and לקוט
   • to find "̣̣kodesh" search both קודש and קדש
2. The catalog search engine differentiates between the letter itself (כ נ מ פ צ) and its ending (sofit) form (ך ן ם ף ץ). This is especially relevant when searching for works that use Soviet Yiddish orthography, in which the sofit form is not used.
   • a search for שכנ does not retrieve שכן
   • the single and double quotation marks (' and ") in the Microsoft Hebrew IME are not equivalent to the Hebrew geresh and gershayim in Library of Congress Hebrew script records. Searches using the Microsoft quotation marks will not retrieve appropriate results. Words or strings containing them should be searched in romanization. Note: If you copy the geresh or gershayim character directly from a Hebrew script catalog record and paste it into your Hebrew script search, you will retrieve correct results. A record containing both characters is LCCN 99461387.
   • searches for רמב"ם , תש"ח or פאלג'י retrieve nothing; substitute 708, rambam, palag’i (or palagi)
3. Truncation is automatic in non-Roman left-anchored searches, but not in keyword searches. Only exact keyword searches retrieve appropriate results
   • a search for בית does not retrieve הבית
     Exception: If the first word in a title begins with the definite article ה, that character should not be included in a title search
   • a search for יכתב does not retrieve יכתבו
   • a search for שכנ retrieves neither שכנים nor שכן
4. For easier Hebrew script searching, replace hyphens with spaces and omit commas
   • search תל אביב not תל-אביב
   • search עז ארי שלמה not עז-ארי, שלמה
5. To delete a preceding Hebrew script character, use the backspace key (or the left arrow key followed by the delete key)
6. Use the left arrow key to move the cursor to the right; use the right arrow key to move the cursor to the left

Notes on Yiddish searching:

• Substitute יי (yod-yod) and וו () for the Yiddish characters
  ײ ( yudn) and װ ()
• For vowels and consonants with diacritical marks, such as א (with a line under) or פ (with a line over), use the Hebrew character without a diacritic. A search for פיין retrieves both "fayn" and "payn"

Note on printing, saving, and emailing:

Catalog records containing diacritical marks and non-Roman characters can be printed or saved using the "Save, Print or Email Records" functions of the Online Catalog (found at the bottom of search results and single record displays). Records containing non-Roman characters or diacritics will not be emailed properly--entire lines containing these characters will be missing from the email. Until this problem can be corrected by the vendor, we suggest that you use either "print" or "save" to capture this information in its entirety.

>>Top of Page