Finding a document

Updating our multi-script catalog on a regular basis has been a priority since the library's creation. Works written in non-Latin languages are catalogued both in the original script, and in a transliteration (letter by letter transcription) or transcription (phonetic transcription) of that script.

Transliteration and transcription of non-Latin scripts are used to make searches easier for non-specialist users. They are carried out according to the international standards BULAC and the collective catalogue of French University Libraries (Sudoc) have chosen to follow.

Paper catalogs which are still available at the library remain helpful for users looking for:

• documents in languages with non-Latin scripts which have not been put into the digital catalog;
• documents in rare languages like Old Albanian, Tatar, Mongolian, Yakout, Uyghur, etc.;
• archives and manuscripts. We are currently working on cataloguing these documents on Calames (the online catalogue for French University’s archives and manuscripts).

You can also search:

• the systematic files for each linguistic group to search according to subject on works added before 2000;
• the microfilms of the "calepins noirs" ("little black books") the oldest catalog from the Bibliothèque interuniversitaire des langues orientales (BIULO) [Inter-University Library of Oriental Languages], which covered collections dating from before the 1960s which are listed by linguistic field and discipline.

Contact : services-recherche@bulac.fr

BULAC provides access to online journals, e-books and databases. Remote access resources can be consulted by all registered readers.

BULAC's digital collections reflect the wealth and diversity of our heritage holdings from all over the world and bring together some of most precious documents These collections contain rare documents, some of which had a limited print run which makes them hard to find in their home countries. The BULAC digital library, BiNA, is regularly enriched with more works.

The BULAC offers a digitization service for public domain collections. You can fill in an online form and you will receive a price quote (free from 1 to 25 pages; 10€ from 26 to 250 pages; 20€ from 251 to 501 pages, etc.).

Please note that the library may have to refuse a reproduction request particularly if:

• the document cannot be reproduced for copyright reasons;
• the condition of the document means it cannot be copied;
• the document is already available in digital version.

Contact : reproduction@bulac.fr

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is a system allows users registered in a library to obtain, in the form of a loan or photocopy, any documentary resource (article, book, thesis, journal, etc.) identified in the Sudoc catalogue, as being "available for ILL" in one of the 1,800 libraries participating in the French ILL network, or identified in Worldcat.

Contact : peb@bulac.fr

The BULAC is always looking to develop links with institutions (universities, libraries, academic societies, research institutions...) that cover the same fields as it does, in France or abroad. In countries where editorial monitoring is a complex process, these partnerships provide the BULAC with precious publishing information, along with opportunities to exchange documents which cannot be purchased.

If you would like to partner with us, you can send a profile sheet indicating your identity, expectations, and possible reciprocal offers. Documents (monograph or periodical) can be exchanged for other documents of equivalent intellectual or financial value.

The BULAC can offer in exchange:

• titles from the French National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (Inalco) publications;
• monographs which have been removed form our collections or alternatively given to us as donations;
• acquisitions requested by a partner library following a prior agreement on the exchange partnership.

Contact : echanges@bulac.fr