Introduction

This tutorial was designed to address the most frequently asked questions about the eHRAF databases.  It has benefited from the comments of numerous librarians, faculty, and students at our academic member institutions who have participated in our training sessions.  The tutorial’s purpose is to provide you with a systematic way to explore the various aspects of our databases and to serve all levels of expertise in using eHRAF.  It can be used both individually and for in-class teaching.

Getting Started:

Please note that, while this tutorial uses the eHRAF Collection of Ethnography, the same techniques apply to the eHRAF Collection of Archaeology.  We have designed two versions of this tutorial, based on your preferences.  Please select one below:

Instructions:

For your reference, all “hands on” instructions are italicized.

1. Click on the following link to open a new browser window: http://ets.umdl.umich.edu/e/ehrafe.  You will either gain immediate access to the eHRAF Collection of Ethnography Database, or you will be asked for a username and password.  If the latter occurs, click here. 

2. Once the eHRAF Collection of Ethnography splash page is loaded, return to the tutorial

Background: What is the eHRAF Collection of Ethnography?

The eHRAF Collection of Ethnography, or eHRAF Ethnography for short, is a web-based multicultural database for scholars, researchers, teachers, and students with an interest in cultural diversity.  With over 350,000 pages of information on all aspects of social and cultural life and a unique classification and retrieval system, eHRAF Ethnography serves as an excellent teaching and research tool for cross-cultural studies.   As of April 2003, there is information on 127 cultures from around the world.  

The eHRAF ethnography database is geared towards people who are looking for cultural information: on a general subject, on a specific aspect of a subject, on a particular culture, or on a geographical region.  For the purposes of demonstration in this tutorial, we have selected mythology as our general subject.  More specifically, we are interested in the mythological roles of animals (particularly the wolf) among the Native Americans of the northwest Plains in the United States.  To search the database effectively, it helps to analyze the various aspects of our research interests.  Thus, we are researching:

1. a culture from a certain geographical area (northwestern Plains in the US)

2. a general subject (mythology)

3. a specific aspect of a subject (the wolf as a mythical creature)

Browse and Search

The database is divided into two sections -- Browse and Search.  We will begin with the two Browse modes: Browse Cultures and Browse Subjects, where you will learn to find cultures in a geographical region and to find OCM Subject Codes representing certain subjects.  These are the backbone of eHRAF, containing the unique culture classification and subject index system.  Since every paragraph of the full-text materials is subject-indexed with OCM Subject Codes, searching with these codes is often much more accurate than word searches. 

Additional Information

-Terms  eHRAF, Browse, Search, OCM Subject Codes