Information about vernacular script display and use in the Library catalogue
The Library catalogue now displays title and author information in Unicode format. This means that catalogue records, containing this bibliographic data in vernacular script, are displayed and can be searched in the vernacular script - which is particularly useful for finding Chinese, Japanese and Korean material.
Have a look at this record - Ying xiang Zhongguo li shi de yi bai ge nu ren
Displaying vernacular scripts
Most recent browsers can display Unicode characters, including IE5+, Netscape 7, Firefox, Opera, and Safari (Mac), but you may find that with Cyrillic scripts (e.g. Russian), boxes display where the characters should be.
To correct this you will need to either:
- check your browser settings [in the browser toolbar, click on View, Encoding, Unicode (UTF-8)]
or - load a new font set on your computer, called Arial Unicode MS. This font is available on the CD that comes with Microsoft software, e.g. Office XP, Office 2000 Professional and Publisher 2000.
The Unicode website has lots of very useful information on helping you do this, including support for Macintosh users.
All library computers have this font loaded.
Searching in the Library catalogue using vernacular scripts
To be able to input search terms in vernacular scripts, you need special software. Microsoft's Global IME (Input Method Editor) is a popular and freely available example.
Microsoft Global IME is installed on computers in the East Asian area of Fisher Library Level 7, and on the Access Lab computers on Level 2 of Fisher Library.
You can download the software for your own computer from here.
Searching for records in Chinese, Japanese and Korean scripts with Microsoft’s Global Input Method Editors (IMEs)
1. Specify the input method in Chinese or Japanese or Korean
- Specify your input method by clicking the IME
language icon
once at the bottom right hand corner on
the task bar. The IME language icon appears as a small blue square icon imprinted with which stands for English.
- A list of languages will appear with a single click on the icon .
- Highlight the language input that you wish to use. The toolbar of the selected language will then appear. Please note the cursor must be inside the search box in the Library catalogue, otherwise the toolbar of the selected language will not appear.
2. How to input Chinese scripts in searching the Library Catalogue
Ensure the cursor is in the search box.
2.1 Input Chinese scripts by Pinyin
- Click on the first box on the left of the Chinese toolbar and select 中
for Pinyin input.
- Type in Pinyin, hit the space bar and the most common word will jump into the search box. If the word is your desired one, hit the enter-key. If not, hit the —> key, a list of words will appear.
- Select the required word by keying in the appropriate number or by clicking the mouse.
- Hit the enter key to confirm your choice.
- Hit the enter key again to start searching or click on the search button.
- The first box on the right of the Chinese toolbar is the Help button where details and assistance can be found.
2.2 Input Chinese scripts by writing on the writing-pad
- Click on the third box from the right of the toolbar, a writing pad will appear.
- Write your required word with the mouse on the writing pad. A list of words will appear.
- Select the appropriate word into the search box and start searching when you are ready.
- N.B The Chinese scripts are provided in simplified characters only, not traditional characters.
3. How to input Japanese scripts in searching the Library Catalogue
Ensure the cursor is in the search box.
3.1 Input Japanese scripts by Hiragana
- Click on the first box on the left of the Japanese toolbar and select Hiragana or Katakana to initiate searches. Hiragana is recommended as the input method to retrieve Kanji.
- Type in Hiragana and hit the space bar. The most common Kanji will jump into the search box. If the word is your desired one, hit the enter-key. If not, hit the space bar and a list of words will appear.
- Select the required word by keying in the appropriate number or clicking the mouse.
- Hit the enter key to confirm your choice.
- Hit the enter key again to start searching or click on the search button.
- The first box on the right of the Japanese toolbar is the Help button where details and assistance can be found.
3.2 Input Japanese scripts by writing on the writing-pad
- Click on the third box from the left of the toolbar, a writing pad will appear.
- Write your required word on the writing pad with the mouse. A list of words will appear.
- Select the appropriate word into the search box and start searching when you are ready.
4. How to input Korean scripts in searching
Ensure the cursor is in the search box.
- Click on the left box of the toolbar to input Hangul
- Click on the right-hand button to convert Hangul to Korean characters.
- N.B. The current version of Global IME is not effective for Korean scripts input. It is recommended to search the catalogue in McCune-Reischauer romanisation for Korean materials.
Help
If you have any problems, please contact us.
It would be helpful to tell us what computer system and browser you are using.