HRAF Collection of Ethnography An ISR Training Committee Presentation May 17, 2002 Christine Jewell

What is HRAF? The Human Relations Area Files is a non-profit organization in the field of cultural anthropology The Collection of Ethnography is one of the collections they produce.

What is the Collection of Ethnography? The HRAF Collection of Ethnography is a collection of cultural files. The cultural files contain the full text of all kinds of documents, including articles, essays, books, dissertations, etc.

What are the finding aids? OUTLINE of WORLD CULTURES (OWC) is a list of all of the cultures of the world and their codes, assigned by HRAF. Upon completion, the Collection of Ethnography will contain files of information on all of the cultures listed. To date, HRAF has published files for only a fraction of the cultures listed in OWC. The OUTLINE OF CULTURAL MATERIALS (OCM) is a list of subject terms and their codes, assigned by HRAF. The Collection of Ethnography is analyzed to the paragraph level and indexed according to the subject terms listed in the Every term listed is assigned a number, an OCM code.

Where is the HRAF collection? The early instalments are on fiche. The HRAF fiche cabinet is located just outside the centre door to the Porter ISR Department.  Instalments 43 to the present are available on the Web and are referred to as eHRAF. This Web version of the HRAF collection is linked on the Etexts page and in the Anthropology discipline page.   HRAF is doing some retrospective conversion, so some of the files are in both fiche and electronic formats. Available formats are listed in the Collections List section of the User’s Guide (a white binder) shelved on top of the fiche cabinet.  A guide to the Collection and the OWC and OCM manuals and are located above the HRAF fiche cabinet. These finding aids are also available on the eHRAF site.  The Source Bibliographies for the documents indexed in the fiche collection are in a set of 4 binders that are shelved above the HRAF fiche cabinet. Bibliographic information for documents indexed in eHRAF is entered under the heading “publication information”.

How is the HRAF Collection used? The HRAF Collection is particularly useful for cross-cultural comparisons. A search of a cultural file by subject will retrieve portions of documents in that file that have been assigned the subject term. This will allow a researcher to efficiently accumulate facts about a specific aspect of a variety of cultures.

How is the HRAF Collection used? (cont.) The fact that portions of a document are retrieved is one of the most confusing things about the Collection. A search does not result in a citation or the full text of a document. It results in a portion of a document. The HRAF Collection is not designed to facilitate reading of the entire document. Though if someone wants to read the full text, they can find it under the OCM code 116 in the fiche, and the link called “entire” on the Web.

Who uses it? How much help do they need? The Collection is used by Anthropology faculty and students taking a number of Anthropology courses offered every year. The students attend a library instruction workshop that includes instruction on the HRAF Collection. They also receive assistance from their professors. Generally they do not require assistance from the information desk.

What are their most common questions? Question: Sometimes they can’t find information on cultures listed in the OWC . Answer: HRAF has not yet produced files on all the cultures they have identified and listed in the OWC.

What are their most common questions? (cont.) Question: Sometimes they are interested in reading an entire document, rather than the analyzed portion retrieved in a search. Answer: The entire document is found under OCM 116 on the fiche. On eHRAF, the entire document can be browsed using the table on contents available.

What are their most common questions? (cont.) Question: Citing HRAF documents can be confusing. They need to find the bibliographic information for the document they wish to cite. Answer: Bibliographic information is available in the Source Bibliography binder for the fiche (shelved on top of the fiche cabinet) and under the heading Publication Information in eHRAF.

Where is help available? A UW Library publication called Guide to HRAF is available on the Web (through the Etexts page or the Anthropology discipline page).   The Human Relations Area Files homepage provides information on searching and tools for teaching the Collection of Ethnography The eHRAF Collection of Ethnography homepage includes an extensive help page found under Contacts. The Contacts page provides an email address for HRAF Technical Support & Contact Information. The eHRAF Collection of Ethnography includes context specific help pages throughout with many tips on searching.

This presentation is available on the Staff Web on the Training Committee’s homepage under Manuals and Guides for ISR and Information Desk Staff