The University of Michigan Papyrus Collection

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Frequently Asked Questions

I am having trouble with the APIS database

Although we work closely with the APIS site, the Michigan Papyrology website is independently maintaned separately from APIS. If you have problems using APIS, you should consult their webpage for help and contact information.

There appears to be a problem displaying Greek text in my browser

Since this site uses unicode (UTF-8) encoding, some browsers will have difficulty displaying the complete range of Greek characters (especially characters with diacritics). Internet Explorer users are especially prone to these problems. We recommend using Netscape, Safari, or Mozilla as your web browser.

Internet Explorer has the peculiar disability that it will only display Unicode as monspace. This will make the Greek text display with strange letter-spacing. Also, IE may have difficulty displaying some of the more complicated Greek characters. Hopefully Microsoft will fix their unicode handling soon!

We chose Unicode because it is likely to be the future of multilingual textual encoding. You can read the Unicode FAQ at the Unicode Consortium's website.

Is there any way to visit the collection and see the papyri?

The Michigan Papyrus collection is not a museum, and we do not offer permanent exhibits. Occasionally, special tours have been arranged for visiting groups of students. If you would like to arrange a visit, please contact us.