Catalog

The Folger Shakespeare Library is in the process of migrating to a new catalog (May-June 2022). Hamnet will be retired on June 30, 2022.

In addition to our catalog online, we also have card catalogs and finding aids. Catalogs typically provide bibliographic description of individual items such as books, journals, works of art, manuscripts, objects, etc. Finding aids typically provide archival description of collections of manuscripts and records, with inventories detailing what is included in each collection. However, there is some overlap between them; collections can be described in a catalog and individual items can be described in finding aids. In general, if you are looking for a published resource or a work of art, start with the catalog. If you are looking for unpublished papers and records, including letters, diaries, manuscript recipe books, and the like, start with finding aids.

If you have questions about the catalog, please contact catalog@folger.edu.

For other articles about the catalog, please see Category:Catalog. For articles geared towards librarians using the TIND ILS, please see Category:TIND_ILS.

Timeline of new catalog development

January - June 2021	Collection Description staff draft requirements for a new integrated library system (ILS). Researcher Services staff revise the requirements with special attention to the needs of end users.
January - September 2021	Collection Description staff survey the ILS marketplace for suitable options.
October 2021	The Folger Shakespeare Library selects TIND as their new ILS vendor.
October 2021 - March 2022	Collection Description staff and TIND go through multiple iterations of data migration.
March 2022	Data in our former ILS (Ex Libris' Voyager) is 'frozen' and the final migration takes place.
April 2022	Library staff begin using the new catalog and attend multiple training sessions. Post-migration data cleanup and systems configuration continues.
May 2022	We announce the preview launch of the new catalog to readers of The Collation blog, and we explained our decision to go with TIND.
June 2022	Public launch of the catalog.
Summer 2022	Copy-specific information will have an easier-to-read display; it's currently presented in a large block of text
Summer 2022	There will be a full index browse so that it's possible to browse by author, subject, call number, and other indices.
Summer 2022	Staff will begin rolling out Folger-specific search guides and documentation. Watch this space!