Hán Nôm is a logographic writing system that was used to write the Vietnamese language between the 15th and early 20th centuries, when the Latin-based Vieetnamese replaced Hán Nôm as the preferred way to write in Vietnamese. Hán Nôm uses the standard set of classical Chinese characters to represent Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary (Hán, in Vietnamese) and Nôm for native Vietnamese words represented by Vietnamese-created characters based on Chinese.

This guide has been created to assist library patrons beginning their research in Hán Nôm Studies using the resources found in the Yale University Library, including printed catalogs of other librarys' collections, dictionaries, and other reference resources. The guide is intended to provide reference and research assistance particularly for patrons doing research with the Hán and Nôm portions of the Maurice Durand Collection housed in the Manuscripts and Archives Department of Sterling Memorial Library.