Middle Eastern Library Program Research Guide

Online Resources

Link to the library's online catalog.
- In order to search successfully for materials in Arabic and Persian in the online catalog and in many databases, you must learn to apply the American Library Association/Library of Congress rules for romanization of these languages.
  - ALA/LC rules for Arabic
  - ALA/LC rules for Persian
Many databases and indexes are available, including:
- OCLC WorldCat, to find books, web pages, microforms, films, and sound recordings
- Index Islamicus, to find articles and book chapters
- Academic Search Complete, to find articles
- Lexis/Nexis Academic, to find articles in news sources
Some important full-text resources include:
- Encyclopaedia of Islam
- JSTOR
  - JSTOR titles for Middle Eastern Studies, including the years of coverage.
- Library PressDisplay
- e-Books
- e-Journals

The PCL Map Collection includes more than a quarter of a million maps shelved in the Map Room on the first floor of PCL
- About 11,000 images can be viewed online; here you can view online images of maps of the Middle East and Africa

The collection includes 160 Arabic manuscripts from Yemen on microfilm, filmed by the scholar Robert W. Stookey in 1973.
- There is a searchable index to the collection available as a .pdf file.
more Web Resources

Browsable lists of:

How to find Middle Eastern music in the library catalog:

Go to "music search" from the library catalog
Type a keyword in the search box
- Use truncation to get a larger result (for example, "arab?" will pick up "arab," "arabesque," "arabian," "arabic," and "arabs")
If you don't wish to find musical scores, be sure to uncheck "score"
Under "material type," click on "CDs" or any other format you wish to find
Under "language," select one or more Middle Eastern languages
Limit by year if you like
Click on "Go" and your list will display in the window.

screen shot of music search