Persian keyboarding in shared bibliographic records: cataloger-centric vs. user-centric William J. Kopycki Middle East Studies Bibliographer University of Pennsylvania Libraries

Arabic keyboard w/Persian shift (RLIN21)

Major 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

Persian keyboard layout (Windows)

Additional characters vs. Arabic چ hex 0686 پ hex 067E گ hex 06AF ژ hex 0698 ۀ hex 06C0

Just because it looks like a duck… Modified Arabic letters in the Persian keyboard: CharacterIsolFinMedInit Hex 0643 Arabic Letter Kaf (Arabic Kaf) كـكـكـكـ Hex 06A9 Arabic Letter Keheh (Persian Kaf) کـکـکـکـ Hex 064A Arabic Letter Yeh (Arabic Yeh) يـيـيـيـ Hex 06CC Arabic Letter Farsi Yeh (Persian Yeh) یـیـیـیـ

Experiment 1a “Farsi” as keyword search with Arabic “ya” : فارسي

Experiment 1a results:

Experiment 1b : “Farsi” as keyword search with Persian “yah” (from MS Farsi keyboard) فارسی

Experiment 1b results:

Experiment 1b analysis:

The 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.

Experiment 1c “Farsi” as keyword search with Arabic “Alif maksurah” فارسى

Experiment 1c results:

Variation on this experiment (In LC Catalog, set limits to retrieve records encoded as “Persian” only)  = 32 records using فارسي  = 618 records using فارسى

However… in WorldCat فارسي = = فارسى

Normalization in WorldCat

Experiment 2a Search LC catalog for “Kishvar” using Arabic “kaf” كشور

Experiment 2a results

Experiment 2b Search LC catalog for “Kishvar” using Persian “kaf” کشور

Experiment 2b results

Meanwhile, back in WorldCat… كشور = = کشور ( فارسی )

Finally, a word about Nim Fasalah Nim Fasalah = ZWNJ symbol in Unicode = hex 022C = [numlock] Alt+0157 [keypad]

Nim Fasalah makes things look nice and retrievable This: نسخه‌هاى NOT: نسخه های

Else:

Experiment 4a In LC catalog: نسخه‌هاى

Experiment 4a results

Experiment 4b In LC catalog, using space (w/quotes) ” نسخه هاى “

Experiment 4b results

The WorldCat perspective…  93 records when using نسخه‌هاى

The WorldCat perspective… 138 results when using “ نسخه هاى ”

The Numbers game Compare the following: [hex vs. hex 06F0 - 06F9] The “Persian” forms of the numbers 4, 5 and 6 are not currently available for use in cataloging

Recommendations 1. Create agreed-upon standards for input conventions of Persian script in shared bibliographic records. 2. Replace/update existing records to reflect these conventions. 3. Explore feasibility making additional UTF-8 characters valid for input. 4. Explore reasons behind current normalization in WorldCat, in automated systems.

Recommendations 5. Work to create documentation to education patrons on how to best retrieve Persian-script records in OPACs and WorldCat.

Further reading Barnes, Judy. International cataloging: Non- roman scripts. OCLC Connexion documentation. mentation/connexion/client/international/ default.htm mentation/connexion/client/international/ default.htm Esfahbod, Behdad. Persian computing with Unicode. persiancomputing/a007.pdf persiancomputing/a007.pdf

Further 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 21 st Century Symposium, Feb Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates: United Arab Emirates University, Libraries Deanship, National Middle East Language Resource Center. Typing Persian Word Documents in Windows. htm htm Failblog. (for comedic relief; may be unsuitable for sensitive viewers).