eHRAF World Cultures Guide

eHRAF World Cultures

The Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) is a collection of books and articles about different cultures throughout the world. HRAF was originally produced on paper and microfiche (see the Guide to the Human Relations Area Files (HRAF)), but all new additions and some of the backfiles are available online:

• eHRAF World Cultures
• eHRAF Archaeology

For a list of which cultures are covered in which format, see Microfiche vs. Online eHRAF.

 

Finding eHRAF Material

Once you are in eHRAF World Cultures, you can either run a search or browse subjects, cultures, or documents. 

1. Search: Basic or Advanced searches. Search through all the documents by subject, culture, and/or keyword. 
2. Browse Cultures: Browse the list of cultures represented in the database and filter by region, subsistence type, and/or samples. 
3. Browse Subjects: Browse by OCM subjects, covering all aspects of cultural and social life.
4. Browse Documents: Search through all cultural documents in the database. 

 

Search

On the eHRAF homepage, you can run a Basic Search in the search box. This will search all fields within eHRAF. You can also run an Advanced Search by clicking on “Advanced Search” beneath the search box.

The Advanced Search page has three sections:

1. Select Cultures to browse a list of cultures and add to your search. You can choose between “any of these cultures” or “none of these cultures” in the drop-down menu above the search box. 
2. Select Subjects to browse a list of subjects (by OCM) and add to your search. You can choose between “any of these subjects,” “all of these subjects,” or “none of these subjects” in the drop-down menu.
3. Enter Keywords to add any keywords to your search. You can separate keywords using Boolean terms such as AND or OR. You can choose between “any of these keywords,” “all of these keywords,” or “none of these keywords” in the drop-down menu.

You can also choose either the Boolean term “and” or “or” between “Select Subjects” and “Enter Keywords”. 

 

 

Browse Cultures

Browsing by culture allows you to look through the full list of cultures available. Do this by clicking on “Browse Cultures” at the top right of the page.

 

When browsing by culture, you can use the filters to refine your search by region, subsistence type, or sample. You can also sort results by A-Z or region in ascending or descending order. 

 

Browse Subjects

Browse by subject allows you to look through the full list of subjects available by clicking on “Browse Subjects” at the top right of the page. Subjects are sorted according to the Outline of Cultural Materials (OCM), an ethnographic subject classification system. You can learn more about the OCM on the search page.

You can sort the subject index by A-Z or major subject clusters. On the A-Z index tab, you can further sort subjects in A-Z order or by OCM identifier in ascending or descending order. 

 

Browse Documents

You can search through the entire document list by title or author. 

When browsing documents, you can use the filters to refine your search by subsistence type, region, published date, cultural level sample, document level sample, series, author, or document type. You can also sort results by author, culture, publication date, or title in ascending or descending order.