If the computer you are working on does not have foreign language keyboards, but you need to search in another language, what do you do?
Translit.cc is a suitable substitute when it comes to using your current keyboard to type in a different language. The website has a textbox where you type in your text using the keyboard while the box types in the language you want to use. Several languages are available including: Belarusian, Armenian, Georgian, Russian, Ukranian, Bulgarian, and Greek [Note: Eastern and Western Armenian Virtual Keyboards available]. The right-hand side features the alphabet of the language you want to use, in case the textbox does not transliterate correctly, which can sometimes occur. Some of the features of this website include: a Spell Checker, Auto Converter, Virtual Keyboard, "Dual language converter," and language toolbar (consisting of the above languages. Note: Please use the forward arrow to view Georgian and Greek).
One of the most basic things to understand about transliteration or romanization is that there is no one system used everywhere in the world.
This image shows several transliteration systems for the Russian language. ALA refers to the Library of Congress system which is used in US and UK libraries. The other important systems to mention are ISO and DIN. DIN is the transliteration system used by German libraries and ISO is used by Finland, France and most of Eastern Europe. These differences are essential in being able to find the materials you need.
ALA-LC Romanization Tables [Note: Non-Slavic Languages (in Cyrillic Script)]
Library of Congress (LC) Romanization tables. This is an excellent resource when you are looking to find out how titles will be transliterated in U.S. catalogs for virtually every non-Latin script in the world. It is very important to keep in mind that this form of transliteration is not used in all libraries everywhere. It is very important to look at the notes for various letters here as it can be essential for finding the proper transliteration.
