This page discusses some generally useful issues surrounding our current use of mysql as we migrate from datastore.lib.virginia.edu to mysql.lib.virginia.edu.
Thanks to the efforts of Xiaoming Wang and Dennis Collins, the Library is now offering us mysql 5.x, which has support for unicode. Here are the details on how to create a mysql filed that will properly handle unicode, and how to code a php file that will display the unicode properly.
The information here directly concerns Tibetan unicode; other unicode systems have nbot yet been tested, but presumably the process is generally applicable. If you find out otherwise, please add documentation here.