Okay, maybe I'm the last one to learn this - but I thought I'd share it
anyway.

I'm trying to catalog some Iranian atlases and maps. There is only a
little English on the items but I did find some OCLC records that seemed
close. One of the OCLC records had the date given WITHOUT brackets -
meaning that the date is clearly given on the item. I used a handy-dandy
Persian/Arabic numerals page (here:
http://www.laits.utexas.edu/persian/persianword/numbers.htm ) and tried
to identify a date from the verso of the cover page. I kept seeing
numbers like 1385, 1374 and I was confused.

Fortunately, a colleague  of mine reads and writes Arabic and was able
to help me through my problem.

I quote from
http://www.iranchamber.com/calendar/iranian_calendar_converter.php  :

"Iranian Calendar: The Iranian calendar (also known as Persian calendar
or the Jalaali Calendar) is a solar calendar currently used in Iran and
Afghanistan. It is observation-based, rather than rule-based, beginning
each year on the vernal equinox as precisely determined by astronomical
observations from Tehran."

and

"Muslim calendar: The Islamic calendar or Muslim calendar (also called
"Hijri calendar") is the calendar used to date events in many
predominantly Muslim countries, and used by Muslims everywhere to
determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic holy days. It is
a lunar calendar having 12 lunar months in a year of about 354 days.
Because this lunar year is about 11 days shorter than the solar year,
such as a year of the Jalali or Gregorian calendar."

One may enter the Jalaali, Hijri or Gregorian date and convert one to
the other here:
http://www.iranchamber.com/calendar/iranian_calendar_converter.php

So, next time you're intimidated by an Arabic, Farsi or Persian
cataloging project I hope you find this information helpful.

Angie

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Angie Cope, Senior Academic Librarian
American Geographical Society Library
UW Milwaukee Libraries
2311 E. Hartford Avenue
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201

http://www.uwm.edu/Libraries/AGSL/index.html
Hours: M-F 8:00am-4:30pm
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