Title: Persian keyboarding in shared bibliographic records: cataloger-centric vs. user-centric
1Persian keyboarding in shared bibliographic
records cataloger-centric vs. user-centric
- William J. Kopycki
- Middle East Studies Bibliographer
- University of Pennsylvania Libraries
- kopycki_at_pobox.upenn.edu
2Arabic keyboard w/Persian shift (RLIN21)
3Major libraries contributing Persian-script
records
- Library of Congress
- New York Public Library
- New York University
- University of California at Santa Barbara
- University of Michigan
- University of Pennsylvania
- Yale University
4Persian keyboard layout (Windows)
5Additional characters vs. Arabic
- ? hex 0686
- ? hex 067E
- ? hex 06AF
- ? hex 0698
- ? hex 06C0
6Just because it looks like a duck
- Modified Arabic letters in the Persian keyboard
Character Isol Fin Med Init
Hex 0643 Arabic Letter Kaf (Arabic Kaf) ? ?? ??? ??
Hex 06A9 Arabic Letter Keheh (Persian Kaf) ? ?? ??? ??
Hex 064A Arabic Letter Yeh (Arabic Yeh) ? ?? ??? ??
Hex 06CC Arabic Letter Farsi Yeh (Persian Yeh) ? ?? ??? ??
7Experiment 1a
- Farsi as keyword search with Arabic ya
- ?????
8Experiment 1a results
9Experiment 1b
- Farsi as keyword search with Persian yah
(from MS Farsi keyboard) - ?????
10Experiment 1b results
11Experiment 1b analysis
12The harsh realities
- The Persian Ya does not exist in the MARC-8
Character repertoire, therefore users should not
expect to realistically achieve results unless
they switch to the Arabic Alif Maksurah.
13Experiment 1c
- Farsi as keyword search with Arabic Alif
maksurah - ?????
14Experiment 1c results
15Variation on this experiment
- (In LC Catalog, set limits to retrieve records
encoded as Persian only) - 32 records using ?????
- 618 records using ?????
16However in WorldCat
17Normalization in WorldCat
18Experiment 2a
- Search LC catalog for Kishvar using Arabic
kaf - ????
19Experiment 2a results
20Experiment 2b
- Search LC catalog for Kishvar using Persian
kaf - ????
21Experiment 2b results
22Meanwhile, back in WorldCat
23Finally, a word about Nim Fasalah
- Nim Fasalah
- ZWNJ symbol in Unicode
- hex 022C
- numlock Alt0157 keypad
24Nim Fasalah makes things look nice and retrievable
- This
- ????????
- NOT
- ???? ???
25Else
26Experiment 4a
27Experiment 4a results
28Experiment 4b
- In LC catalog, using space (w/quotes)
- ???? ???
29Experiment 4b results
30The WorldCat perspective
- 93 records when using ????????
31The WorldCat perspective
- 138 results when using ???? ???
32The Numbers game
- Compare the following
- hex 0660 - 0669 vs. hex 06F0 - 06F9
- The Persian forms of the numbers 4, 5 and 6 are
not currently available for use in cataloging -
33Recommendations
- Create agreed-upon standards for input
conventions of Persian script in shared
bibliographic records. - Replace/update existing records to reflect these
conventions. - Explore feasibility making additional UTF-8
characters valid for input. - Explore reasons behind current normalization in
WorldCat, in automated systems.
34Recommendations
- 5. Work to create documentation to education
patrons on how to best retrieve Persian-script
records in OPACs and WorldCat.
35Further reading
- Barnes, Judy. International cataloging Non-roman
scripts. OCLC Connexion documentation.
http//www.oclc.org/us/en/support/documentation/co
nnexion/client/international/default.htm - Esfahbod, Behdad. Persian computing with Unicode.
http//behdad.org/download/Publications/persiancom
puting/a007.pdf
36Further reading
- Kopycki, William. Al-Marâyâ al-muhaddabah
Availability and quality of shared Arabic-script
records in WorldCat and RLIN. Arabic Script
Web-Based Catalogs in the 21st Century Symposium,
15-16 Feb. 2005. Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates University, Libraries
Deanship, 2005. - National Middle East Language Resource Center.
Typing Persian Word Documents in Windows.
http//sartre2.byu.edu/persian/persianword/persian
wp.htm - Failblog. http//failblog.org/ (for comedic
relief may be unsuitable for sensitive viewers).