Research Guides: Anthropology: Ethnographies &amp; Primary Sources

Ethnographic data

eHRAF World Cultures This link opens in a new window
eHRAF World Cultures is a cross-cultural database that contains information on all aspects of cultural and social life. The annually-growing eHRAF database is unique in that the information is organized into cultures and ethnic groups and the full-text sources are subject-indexed at the paragraph level.
eHRAF Archaeology This link opens in a new window
Full-text database with information on prehistory of the world. eHRAF Archaeology is organized by regions and archaeological traditions. Each tradition consists of a general summary and full-text documents including books, journal articles, dissertations, and manuscripts.
Anthropological Fieldwork Online This link opens in a new window
Anthropological Fieldwork Online is a fully indexed, primary source database that unfolds the historical development of anthropology from a global perspective, bringing together the work of early scholars who shaped the theories and methods students learn about, critique and re-shape today.

Video and Audio sources

Anthropology Online This link opens in a new window
Anthropology Online brings together a wide range of written ethnographies, field notes, seminal texts, memoirs, and contemporary studies, covering human behavior the world over. Essential for study in the areas of politics, economics, history, psychology, environmental studies, religion, area studies, linguistics, and geography, the database will contain more than over 100,000 pages of full-text material at completion, including tens of thousands of pages of previously unpublished material from major archives.
Ethnographic Video Online This link opens in a new window
Ethnographic Video Online is a resource for the study of human culture, behavior and society around the world. The collection contains over 1,300 hours of video, including ethnographic films, documentaries, select feature films, and previously unpublished fieldwork footage.
Ethnographic Sound Archives Online This link opens in a new window
Ethnographic Sound Archives Online brings together over 2,000 hours of previously unpublished historic field recordings from around the world, along with supporting field notes and ethnographers’ metadata.
Kanopy Streaming This link opens in a new window
Kanopy offers a number of excellent anthropological videos, on diverse topics and areas.
SAGE Video This link opens in a new window
SAGE Video contains streaming video collections in the social sciences. SAGE Video combines originally commissioned material with licensed videos in the areas of Anthropology, Education, Media, Communication and Cultural Studies, and Counseling & Psychotherapy.

Tips on locating Ethnographies

Whenever possible, search directly under the names of individual ethnic groups and peoples as listed in the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). The Library of Congress list of ethnic groups and peoples can be found in the LCSH books under the term ETHNOLOGY. For example, there we find both the terms JAPANESE and also AINU. LCSH can be searched:
- in print (Bobst REF1 Z695.Z8 L524a), or
- online (http://authorities.loc.gov/).
Researchers may use our Library Catalog to locate book-length ethnographies on a particular culture. A beginning list of works can be obtained by looking under the heading ETHNOLOGY which is then subdivided by geographic area, e.g. ETHNOLOGY-JAPAN. Other subject headings to search are ETHNIC GROUPS or ETHNICITY (which are also subdivided geographically).
Researchers may also wish to try the subheading SOCIAL LIFE AND CUSTOMS added to the name of a group or a place, (e.g., JAPAN - SOCIAL LIFE AND CUSTOMS) to obtain additional references. Another useful subheading is SOCIAL CONDITIONS (e.g., WOMEN - JAPAN - SOCIAL CONDITIONS). Other headings may be useful depending on the culture to be researched.
Another research technique is to begin by looking through a recent bibliography from which you will be able to identify additional sources. The Encyclopedia of World Cultures is generally useful for this purpose.