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Egyptology Reading Room: User Guidelines

About the Egyptology Reading Room in the Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University

User Guidelines

● Please keep in mind: Due to the limited space the books which were selected for the new Reading Room present only a small proportion of the currently existing Egyptological and Coptological publications!

● The shelving of the books in the Reading Room does not follow the call number system of Yale University Library.

● The books are divided into two main sections: The so-called reference books and the much larger journals and series.

● The reference books can be found in the lower part of the shelves besides the door. They are arranged along five subjects:

I. Lexica, Encyclopedia, Bibliographies, Handbooks [blue dots]

II. Philology, divided into 1. Dictionaries, 2. Handbooks, 3. Grammars, 4. Text Editions [red dots]

III. Archaeology, Architecture, History, Cultural History [yellow dots]

IV. Religion [green dots]

V. Coptology [orange dots]

Within these sections the books are arranged along authors in alphabetical order. The shelving runs vertically.

See the list of the reference books inside the white folder at the table for a complete listing of all the publications which are kept in this section, including their call numbers!

● The journals and series start in the upper part of the shelves besides the door and run around the room clockwise. They are divided along size of the books: Smaller ones in the upper part of the shelves, larger ones in the lower part. They are arranged along the titels of the series in alphabetical order. Within a series the books are arranged along numbers in ascending order. The shelving runs vertically.

To find a book you have to know the title of the series and the number.

Please pay attention to the fact that due to the very limited space only some journals and series were completely transferred to the Reading Room whereas in the case of others the more relevant volumes had to be selected!

See the list of journals and series inside the white folder at the table for a complete listing of all the journals and series which are kept in the Reading Room! The list provides you with the shortcuts of the series titles, the full titles of the journals and series and the information which volumes are actually kept in the Reading Room. The call numbers are not listened because in many cases the individual volumes of the journals and series have different call numbers.

● All books kept in the Reading Room are non-circulating. But it is possible to move out books temporarily either for use in another room or for copying some pages or for checking them out with special permission. In each of these cases the books have to be signed in the list kept for this purpose at the table. Please cooperate with us in this matter! It is the only way to keep track of the books and to keep the Reading Room functioning for everybody.

And please remember: The books should normally be brought back into the Egyptology Reading Room at the same day!

Do not leave books from this Reading Room at any other place in the Library!

● Questions? Please contact Robin Dougherty, Librarian for Middle East Studies.