Where are the books?
Image: Cross-section rendering of NYPL's underground stack extension
As seen in this illustration, many of our books, microfilm, and other research materials are stored in specialized shelving underneath Bryant Park. To learn more about this specialized storage and how we use it to organize and protect our collections, click here. In addition to these stacks, NYPL also jointly owns and operates a shared storage facility in Princeton, New Jersey with our partners Columbia, Harvard, and Princeton.
What does this mean for you, the researcher? A few things:
1. These stacks are closed, meaning that readers can't browse them and select the materials they want for themselves. Instead, researchers must use an online catalog to identify the materials they want to see and have them delivered to a reading room
2. Once you've identified the items you want, they aren't available immediately. Staff need time to retrieve them and bring them upstairs to the reading room. This will take at least 45 minutes (for onsite items), or a day or longer (for offsite items).
In this section of the guide, you will learn how to search for materials in our online catalog. The next section will show you how to place a request for the materials you find.
NYPL's Research Catalog
To find materials on your topic, you'll have to search the Research Catalog. This catalog is different from the one you may have used to find books, movies, and more at your local NYPL branch. It is specially designed for the users of NYPL's three research centers: the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (where the Dorot Jewish Division is located), the Library for the Performing Arts, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
What can I find in the Research Catalog?
- Books, microfilm, archival materials, and other research materials from NYPL's three research centers
- Materials from our shared collections with Columbia, Harvard, and Princeton
- Some online resources, like e-books (but visit Articles & Databases for more!)
What can I NOT find in the research catalog?
- Books from NYPL branches -- use this catalog to find books you can borrow from your local library
What can I do in the Research Catalog?
- Search for materials using Roman or non-Roman script, like Hebrew or Arabic
- Request research materials to use onsite at an NYPL research center
- Request scans of a chapter or article from a book through NYPL's Scan & Deliver service, free with an NYPL library card
- View my library account to see which books I currently have on hold
Searching the catalog
The default "All Fields" search is roughly equivalent to a keyword search in other library catalogs. Use this if you only have a general topic in mind, and are not looking for a specific title or author. If you have a particular item in mind, select "Title" or "Author/Contributor" from the dropdown menu for a more targeted search.
If your keywords are very broad, or related to an area where we have extensive holdings, you may see an overwhelming number of results. Using the "Refine Search" feature, seen in the screenshot below, can be helpful. Clicking on it will show you a number of possible filters, including format, date, language, and (not pictured) subject.
Many items in our collection are in the Hebrew alphabet. Ideally, these items will have two titles and authors: one in Hebrew script (matching what is found on the item itself) and one in Latin script (the same letters used in English). An example is seen in the screenshot above. Searching for either the Hebrew or Latin title in the Research Catalog should yield results, but problems are common. The following tips may be useful:
It is possible to search for an item written in Hebrew characters by following some of the rules catalogers use to enter their records, entering a romanized title (in Roman, or English, script). You can often find the romanization of a Hebrew title simply by searching for it in Google or WorldCat, but the below suggestions can help when a Google search fails.
- Romanization Tables
The Library of Congress has romanization tables (pdf), which indicate which letters should be used to represent consonants and vowels in Hebrew/Yiddish.
Please note that when searching the catalog no character is required to represent the aleph and ayin. Just enter the accompanying vowel. Neither should the dots below the Roman script letters be entered (i.e., on the vav, het, tet, and kof) nor the line above the s for the sin.
In Hebrew, only romanize yod as y when it is followed by a vowel. (Note that we romanize Daniyel, not Daniel.)
- Hebrew Prefixes
When romanized, Hebrew prefixes are almost always separated by a hyphen from the word to which they are joined e.g., not haarets BUT ha-arets.
With this in mind:
1) The definite article ha- at the beginning of a title should not be entered in a search.
2) In almost all other instances the definite article is romanized as ha-
3) The prefix vav is romanized ve- before any consonant except :
before a bet, vav, mem or peh = u- e.g., u-vet or u-foalav
before any initial letter with a sheva = u- e.g., u-khetav
before a consonant with hataf-patah or hataf kamats = va- e.g., va-avodah
before a yod with a sheva = vi- BUT Library of Congress rules require the sheva that should have assimilated remain, i.e. Vi-Yerushalayim not vi-yrushalayim.
The prefixes be-, ke-, and le- behave as above. If they include the definite article then they will be romanized ba-, la-, etc.
- Hyphenation
The case of Levi and Kohen: when romanizing a family name do not use a hyphen, e.g., use Halevi or Hakohen
However when it is a title it should be ha-Levi or ha-Kohen.
It is also important to note the following romanizations: Be-reshit & Va-yikra.
"Little words" where hyphenation is dependent on their appearance in the dictionary will rarely appear in the title phrase you wish to search and will not be dealt with here.
- The Sheva
The sheva nah (non-vocal sheva) is ignored. The Alcalay dictionary is a useful aid in the identification of this sheva—he did not transcribe it.
The sheva at the beginning of a Hebrew word (sheva na or vocal sheva) is romanized e i.e., teshuvah not tshuvah.
However, in some cases the sheva na is not romanized. One of the most common instances in a title is the construct form of toladot which is rendered toldot (not toledot), as in Toldot Yaakov.
- Abbreviations
The Princeton University library Hebrew cataloging guide provides an extensive list of romanized abbreviations, and some examples of Hebrew words which may present difficulties.
If you can't find something in our catalog, please contact us at dorotjewish@nypl.org.
Requesting items in advance
Aside from a very small selection of reference works and current periodicals, almost none of our collection is stored in the reading room. This means that if you do not request your items in advance, you will need to wait a minimum of 45 minutes, and sometimes days, for your items to be delivered. Requesting items in advance is essential for making the most of your time.
As of January 2024, most of our items can be requested directly through the Research Catalog using the button that says "Request for On-Site Use."
Once you click the "Request" button, you will be prompted to log in with your library card, then select the reading room where you'd like to use the item (sometimes there will only be one option).
You should receive an automated email when your request is received, and another when your request is ready for you to read here.
If you want to request something that does not have a request button, email us at dorotjewish@nypl.org so we can make the request for you.
Our collections must be used onsite in the reading room and cannot be taken home with you. We will keep your books on hold for two weeks from the date you last used them.
Frequently Asked Questions about Finding Materials
Q: The Research Catalog is new. What about the old catalog?
A: An older version of NYPL's catalog, called the Legacy Catalog, is still available online at legacycatalog.nypl.org. Its advanced search is easier to use and more sophisticated than the Research Catalog. But it does not allow you to request the delivery of items, or scans of items. We suggest using both catalogs, and if you find something in the Legacy Catalog that you would like to use, you can simply look it up in the Research Catalog and request it there.
Q: Is there a catalog just for the Dorot Jewish Division?
A: No, we use the same catalog as the other NYPL research divisions. But in the Legacy Catalog, you can limit your search to a particular division, including ours.
Q: The catalog says the book I want is located in the Dorot Jewish Division - Rm 111. Can you show me where it is?
A: Only a very small selection of our materials, mainly reference sources such as encyclopedias, are located in the reading room. These items will generally have call numbers beginning with *R-JWS or *DESK-JWS. Otherwise, our books are stored in specialized storage. The location simply indicates that you can read the book here in room 111, not that it's physically located here.
Q: I can't read language X, but most of the books on my topic are in that language. How can I find books that I can read on my topic?
A: You can filter your search by language in both the Research Catalog and the Legacy Catalog. In Research, once you've done your initial search, click the button that says "Refine search" and select the languages you would like to filter by.
Q: I used a book here a long time ago, but I can't remember the title. Can you look in my account and tell me what it was?
A: No, we don't retain records of your past checkouts for privacy reasons. Once you return a book, it's no longer associated with your account. We recommend keeping a list of books as you find them, perhaps using Zotero or another citation management system.
Depending on when you used the book, you may have received an automated email letting you know that it was ready. Try searching for "NYPL Research Requests" in your email inbox.
Q: Where can I find books to borrow and take home?
A: You can find a wide variety of books and other materials at NYPL's branch libraries, including the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library. To search these collections, visit the Books/Music/Movies page on nypl.org.
Looking for online resources?
NYPL subscribes to a variety of databases. You can view them all on our main Articles & Databases page. 
For Jewish Studies-specific online resources, see this guide: Electronic Resources on Jewish Studies.
NYPL's Digital Collections page is another great resource. This page contains digitized items from NYPL's collections (as opposed to Articles & Databases, which contains subscription databases that the Library provides access to). You can do a keyword search, or browse digitized items from the Dorot Jewish Division here.
Image: Deli and restaurant matchbook covers, [composite view]