About Us:
This project is a non-profit social service initiative providing unified search across libraries, archives, and collections that contain historical manuscripts, printed works, archival documents, periodicals, and visual materials. The text entered in the search box is queried across all catalogs in the system, saving users from searching each institution separately. Result links direct users to the original record and, when available, its digital copy on the source institution's website.
Osmanlica.com respects copyright. As a non-profit system, it does not host digital copies or images of works (PDF, JPG, PNG). The system only contains catalog metadata (title, author, publication date, place, type, etc.). Digital copies (PDF, JPG, PNG, etc.) remain on the websites of the respective libraries. Search results link to those original pages.
Project Information:
Scope & Sources
The catalogs cover libraries as well as archives and collections containing historical works and documents from different periods and regions. The full list is available through the Libraries link. You can suggest resources at [email protected].
Categories
The works in the project are grouped under four main categories: Book, Document (archive materials, letters, etc.), Periodical (newspaper/magazine), and Other. While searching, users will be able to filter by category.
Classification
Works will be tagged as manuscript or print. While searching, users will be able to choose between manuscript/print.
The project includes both works that have been digitized (PDF, JPG, PNG, etc.) and those not yet digitized. Users will be able to filter by digital/physical status.
Language
Historical works in many languages, including Ottoman Turkish, Arabic, and Persian, are included in the system. Users can filter records by language.
Cultural Inventory
Digitized works will include page counts where possible, making it easier to determine the total number of works and total pages of cultural heritage.
Future Milestones
At later stages of the project, deduplication and grouping of records will require additional work.
At later stages of the project, records will need to be matched with academic publications (theses and books).
About Us:
For more information about the project and to contribute, send us a message: [email protected]