Finding non-English resources: Korean

How to input Korean characters (Hangul 한글 and Hancha 漢字)

Korean language has two writing systems:

• Hangul   한글
• Hancha  漢字

​These two writing systems are differentiated both by their distinct appearance and what they are used for. 

The Input method editor (IME) allows you to type Korean characters. Add Korean language from the list of languages and language settings in your PC or Mac — then, simply switch between languages.

How can you add the IME in your computer?

Windows: Adding IMEs (Input Method Editors)  or Control Panel>Region and Language>Keyboard and Lanugages>Add Korean (select Keyboard Korean and Microsoft IME)

Mac: Korean on a Mac or System Preferences>Language & Text>Input Sources>Korean (choose Korean)

Note: Make sure that the language bar is visible. The IME Pad or Keyboard is useful if you know the Korean characters but you don't know how to;type them out..

When to best use Korean characters

Use Korean characters if you:

• know the title of the item in Korean
• know the name of the author in Korean
• are looking for recent publications

Using Korean characters in these cases will give you the best results and will include all recent publications. But make sure you have typed the exact title or the author's Korean characters correctly, or you might not get any good results!

Use of Romanized Korean

Romanization converts Korean characters into the Roman (Latin) script to express the language in a phonetic form that allows typing on a standard keyboard.There are different systems of romanization for Korean. Exceptions of Korean Romanization can be found in Korean romanization guideline below:

• McCune-Reischauer Romanization system: ALA-LC Romanization Tables: Korean Romanization and Word Division (pdf 748kb) (used M-R Romanisation system) *Appendix 7 is Korean Romanization table.
  Reproduction of the McCune-Reischauer Romanization table (.pdf 455kb)

• Korean Government Romanisation system: The Revised Romanization of Korean from the National Institute of the Korean Language 국립국어원
  Reproduction of  The Revised Romanization of Korean table  (.pdf 381kb)

Monash University Library uses the McCune-Reischauer Romanization system. You can easily recognize it from:

• apostrophe ( ’ )
• breve ( ˘ )  over o ( ŏ ) and ( ŭ )
  This romanization system is also used by the Library of Congress (as one of its ALA-LC romanisations) and is the most common system in libraries today

Examples:

안녕 (安寧) = Annyŏng                                 Hello or Bye
한국 (韓國) = Han’guk                                  Korea
대학교 (大學校) = Taehakkyo                      University

Note:  It is not necessary to type diacritics (apostrophe and breve) in Library Search.

When to best use Romanized Korean

Use romanized Korean if you:

• know the title of the book but are unsure about the correct Korean characters
• know the name of the author but are unsure about the correct Korean characters
• are looking for older publications

Using Romanization will give you a greater number of results, including the records for older publications that have not been updated with Korean characters. Romanization also picks up resources in English and other languages.

Keywords in English

You can also search for Korean material using English keywords.

Using English keywords will lead you to the subject headings, which are another way to find suitable resources.

When to best use English

Use English if you:

• are not looking for a particular title or author
• want to search for keywords or topics

If you are not searching for a particular title or author, you may want to do a keyword or topic search. You can type in Korean characters or Romanization to do a keyword search, but you can also search using English. Using English keywords will lead you to the subject headings. Nearly all records in Library Search include English-language subject headings, which describe the contents of the item. Through English-language keyword searches, you can use the subject headings to find suitable resources.

Below you can find some activities to test yourself how well you can use Korean to find resources.

These activities are best viewed on OS/Browser. 

Click on any of the banners below to start the activity in a new window.

Test Yourself: Using the IME

Test Yourself: Quiz - Input Methods for McCune-Reischauer Romanization

Test Yourself: Quiz - Input Methods for Revised Romanization of Korean

Test Yourself: Korean Resources in Library Search