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last updated: 10/1/2010

Guide to HRAF Collection of World Cultures (Anthropology)

HRAF Collection of World Cultures Guide

http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/ehrafe/

From INDIANS by Joanna Cohan Scherer, Crown Pub., Inc., Photo by James Mooney, Bureau of American Ethnology

Hopi Man and youth impersonating ancestral spirits.
Bean-planting ceremony, Arizona, 1893.




HRAF Guide
How to Cite HRAF
User Guide/Tutorial from Yale University



What is HRAF
Uses of HRAF
HRAF at IU
Finding eHRAF
Searching HRAF
Viewing Records in HRAF 
Marking Records in HRAF
Exporting in HRAF
Help

What Is HRAF?

  • A collection of ethnographies.
  • Currently contains nearly one million pages of descriptive information on more than 400 cultures around the world.
    • For a printable Adobe PDF version of HRAF's Complete Collection List click here.
    • For a Microsoft Excel .xls version of HRAF's Complete Collection List click here.
  • 2 Formats: microfiche and web (eHRAF)
    • 224 culture files are in fiche only
    • 55 culture files are in eHRAF only
  • Some of the fiche files are also in eHRAF, but not all!

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Uses of HRAF

  • Compare specific topics across many cultures
  • Find brief excerpts arranged by topic
  • Read a cultural summary for a quick overview of a certain culture


HRAF at IU

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Finding eHRAF


Searching eHRAF (Browse and/or Search)

1. Browse Cultures:

  • Browse cultures through A-Z index, or,
  • Browse cultures by Region: Africa, North America, etc.
  • Each culture is given an OWC (Outline of World Cultures) code, e.g.
    • Azande, FO07
    • Cuban Americans, NK08
    • Hopi, NT09
  • Click on the culture name to go to the file description
  • From the file description, click on Cultural Summary
  • From the file description, scroll down to File Table of Contents and click on any title to read the full-text of the book or articleEach culture is assigned a code that comes from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC), e.g. the Akan are FE12.

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2. Browse Subjects:

  • Browse A-Z index of all subjects, or,
  • Click on "Browse Subject Categories" for an outline of all the subject categories.
  • Each subject has OCM (Outline of Cultural Materials) code, e.g.:
    • 290 CLOTHING
    • 291 NORMAL GARB (Garment, ordinary, 291)
    • 292 SPECIAL GARMENT (Garment, special, 292)
    • 580 MARRIAGE
    • 754 SORCERY
  • There are 91 broad subject categories. Each is subdivided into narrower subjects, e.g. 730 Social Problems includes 731 Disasters; 732 Disabilities; 733 Alcoholism and Drug Addiction, etc.
  • Click on the numeric code for a description of that subject term, a list of subjects, and links to eHRAF texts that match that subject.
  • Click on "eHRAF Ethnography Documents with this OCM" for links to texts that mention this subject.
  • The same word may be linked to several different subjects in the index, e.g. the word bone occurs in six subjects:
    • Bone pointing, in sorcery, 754
    • Bone setting, 752
    • Bone, horn, and shell technology, 321
    • Bone, ideas about, 826
    • Bone, use, 237
    • Bone, work in, 321

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3. Search:

  • The Quick Search box searches words in full-text, subjects, culture names, or OCM codes (e.g. 754 for Sorcery).
  • Text Search: You may search by any combination of the following:
    • Subject codes (OCMs or OWCs)
    • Words in the full-text titles of eHRAF documents
    • Culture name
  • To enter OCMs (subject terms), click on "Add." This opens the A-Z Subject index in a separate window. Scroll through the index to find the term you need. Click on "Note" for a description of the subject. Click "Add" to add this subject to your search.
  • You may enter up to three different subject terms. The default operator combines the terms with "AND." Click the drop down menus to change the Boolean operator to "NOT" or "OR."
  • To search for words or phrases, in the full-text, enter only one word or phrase in the "Exact Word or Phrase" boxes. You may enter up to three terms. The default operator combines the terms with "AND." Click the down menus to change the Boolean operator to "NOT" or "OR."
  • Use * to truncate terms, e.g. music* returns texts that contain music, musical, or musician.
  • To search for words or phrases in titles, enter them in the "Exact Word or Phrase" boxes. Do not enter any subject terms in the OCM line. Click on the box that says "Paragraphs" to change to "Titles."
  • To limit your search to one or more cultures in eHRAF, select the culture from the A-Z list at the bottom. Use Ctrl-click to select more than one culture.

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Viewing Records in eHRAF:

  • Search results appear as a list of cultures that include matching terms.
  • Results are sorted by geographic region (Africa, Asia, etc.), and then in alphabetical order within each region.
  • After each culture name a note explains how many matches were found. Each "match" is a single paragraph, e.g. "25 matches in 3 documents" means that 25 paragraphs were found in three different book-or article-length documents.
  • Click on the culture name to see a list of results for that culture.


Marking Records in eHRAF:

  • It is not possible to mark records in eHRAF.


Exporting (Printing, Saving, E-mailing) in eHRAF:

  • Use the browser's Print command to print the current document view.
  • Use the brower's Save command to save these results. Change the format to a text file.
  • Click "Save."
  • Use the brower's Send command to send the current page by e-mail.
  • It is not possible to export entire documents from eHRAF; you can only export one section at a time.


Help

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Last updated: October 2008


last updated: 10/1/2010