How to access the descriptive records

Archives at Yale

Archives at Yale contains every item in the Yale Papyrus Collection and includes images when items are digitized. You can browse by acquisition within the finding aid, or you can use the search features in Archives at Yale to search for a specific call number or for other terms. Currently the items are not requestable through this database. See below for information about requesting materials.

Papyri.info

You can view a complete inventory of everything in the Yale Papyrus Collection at papyri.info.

To search for a specific Beinecke call number in this database, you will need to change the default search option in papyri.info from Text to Metadata. After you do that, you should wrap the call number in quotes, add it to the search form, and then hit the Search button.  For example, here is the URL that performs a call number search for P.CtYBR Inv. 1 qua.

How to view digitized images of the papyri

All of the papyri in the Yale Papyrus Collection that have been digitized are available in Yale Library’s digital collections. The Yale Papyrus Collection is currently represented in two Yale digital library systems, Digital Collections and FindIt (Yale Library’s legacy digital collections repository). In time, all collections will be made available in the Digital Collections system. As additional material is digitized, it will be added to Digital Collections.

Please note that even though most of the collection has been digitized (about 95%), there are still some items that have yet to be digitized.  Therefore, you must search papyri.info or Archives at Yale, not Yale Library’s digital collections, for a complete list of everything in the collection.

Additionally, if an item has been digitized, then the record that is in papyri.info will have a link to FindIt. You will find that link in the Catalog Record portion of the papyri.info record, after the heading Images. If an item has been digitized, an image or a link to an image will also appear in Archives at Yale along with the description.

How to request the materials for on-site use

To request anything from the Yale Papyrus Collection you must have the Beinecke call number for the item that you want to see, which will always start with “P.CtYBR Inv.”  You can find this call number in a variety of places, including:

• In Archives at Yale, when you have selected a particular item, its Beinecke call number appears in the top left portion of the screen.
• In FindIt, the Beinecke call number is both the Title of the record and also listed further down in the descriptive record, after the heading Call Number.
• In papyri.info, you will find the Beinecke call number in the Catalog Record portion of the record, after the heading Inv. ID.
• If you have another reference number, such as P. Dura or P. Yale, you can find the Beinecke call number by looking in the Concordance section of the Guide to the Yale Papyrus Collection.  For instance, if you are looking for P. Yale 54, then you would consult the concordance to find out that that the Beinecke call number for that item is P.CtYBR Inv. 140.

Once you have the Beinecke call number, you request the item through Aeon, the request management system used at the Beinecke so that researchers can request to see collection material on site.  When making a request for one of the items in the Yale Papyrus Collection, please make sure to use the Beinecke call number (e.g. P.CtYBR Inv. 140)  in both the Call Number and Title section of the form, since those two fields are required to make a request.  For directions on how to access this form, please see the Requesting Collection Material from the ‘Aeon New Request Form’ section in the Guide to Using Special Collections at Yale website.

For more information about conducting research at the Beinecke, please see the Planning Your Research Visit webpage on the Beinecke website.