Locating Tibetan Materials
Searching for Tibetan materials in CLIO
In 2016, the Columbia University Libraries catalog was updated to reflect the new Wylie-based ALA-LC Tibetan Romanization System. Readers may now search for Tibetan titles in CLIO using Wylie transliteration.
When searching CLIO for a topic, try various keyword searches using both romanized Tibetan terms and English terms.
Wylie-based Tibetan Romanization Table
This means that instead of using diacritics, you can search the following letters using Wylie romanization.
ང་ = nga
ཉ་ = nya
ཞ་ = zha
ཤ་ = sha
For more details, keep reading...
In 2015, the Library of Congress revised its Tibetan romanization chart to accord with the Wylie transliteration system.
In WorldCat and CLIO, you will find updated records for
- all Tibetan publications from China
- Tibetan publications published in 2007 or later outside of China
For pre-2007 publications from South Asia, etc., an additional title field in Wylie transliteration was applied. (This was necessary since the original titles on most of these publications were romanized on the publication, and must be retained as they appear on the piece, by cataloging conventions.)
While titles for some legacy records for Tibetan-language materials (especially early publications from India) necessarily retain the previous romanization (which uses diacritics), these records can still be retrieved with a Wylie search. However, many authorized forms of authors and subject-headings still use the previous romanization. These will change after the Library of Congress updates its authority file. All new bibliographic and authority records are being added in Wylie.
In summary, a search in Wylie will retrieve all or the large majority of due results. However, to be absolutely sure, you may also wish to perform a second search using the old romanization. For this, you simply drop the “g” , the “y” , the “s” and the “h” from these four letter combinations: nga (search na); nya (search na); zha (search za); and sha (search sa). Again, this is only if you wish to do a second search, to be sure that your results are exhaustive.
Spelling variations for computer searching
Many popular books and internet sites use non-standard forms of spelling which are based on how Tibetan words sound when pronounced, leaving out the many silent letters.
When searching the computer for Tibetan language authors, titles, or subjects, it is helpful to repeat your searches using various forms of the term. This is especially true right now, since Subject Headings, and other controlled fields have not yet been upgraded to Wylie. (The Library of Congress has this project on their agenda.)
For example, you may need to try all of the following searches:
Keyword = "Rnying ma"
Keyword = Nyingma
Keyword = Nyingmapa
Subject = rnin ma pa
Although several punctuation marks are used by the Library of Congress system to differentiate sounds, when typing search terms in CLIO, there is no need for diacritic marks or punctuation.
Modern format books are intershelved by call number in the general stacks of the C.V. Starr East Asian Library. Traditional Tibetan texts (dpe-cha) are shelved in Room 106 (on the 100-level) in the newly designed TIBETAN PECHA COLLECTION area of the Starr Library. About 40% of both modern and traditional-format titles are stored offsite and can be requested for pick-up within 48 hours.
While the majority of pecha have been bound for circulation purposes, a small percentage remain unbound. To access these, please first consult the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center database for a digital copy, or you may request access to the physical copy for use in the Rare Books & Special Collections Reading Room.
Go to Tibetan Rare Books & Special Collections
Columbia owns some very valuable Tibetan religious works, including early Bon texts as well as a nearly complete Snar-thang edition of the Buddhist canon, published between 1730 and 1732, as well as modern Tibetan historical documents.
In addition to titles housed in Starr Library, some titles are housed at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library (Butler Library, 6th floor).
- Serials: Unbound recent issues are displayed in Starr East Asian's main reading room; bound issues of previous two years are shelved in Starr's regular stacks; earlier issues are bound and stored off-site. Available for two-week loan.
- Newspapers: Current issues for some 30-40 regularly subscribed titles are available in the periodicals alcove of the C. V. Starr East Asian Library's main reading room.
Dictionaries and other critical reference materials are shelved in the Starr main reading room, and located by call number. Some duplicate reference materials are also available for use with the Tibetan Pecha Collection on the 100-level.
- Works in Chinese or Japanese are located in the C.V. Starr East Asian Library or may be requested through CLIO.
- Most Sanskrit, English, French, and German scholarship on Tibetan subjects is housed either in Starr or Butler, or may be requested through CLIO. Some additional materials may be found in the Barnard College or the Avery Art & Architecture Library collections.
If you need help locating Tibetan materials in the C.V. Starr East Asian Library or elsewhere on campus, please contact the Tibetan Studies Librarian.