Two new publications from the American Folklife Center offer advice on using ethnographic collections -- multiformat, unpublished, created works that document cultural groups.
Folklife Resources in the Library of Congress, 44 pages, by Timothy Lloyd and Hillary Glatt lists the locations of material throughout the Library of interest to folklife researchers.
Ethnographic Collections in the Archive of Folk Culture: A Contributor's Guide by Stephanie Hall, 31 pages, gives instructions on how to arrange ethnographic materials for preservation and access, especially for collections intended for the Center's Archive of Folk Culture.
Folklife Resources in the Library of Congress demonstrates that the Center's Archive of Folk Culture is only a starting point for the folklife researcher. It describes more than 16 locations in the Library for finding folk cultural material. This booklet introduces the Library from the perspective of the user of folklife resources, points out some of the relevant materials in various divisions and suggests routes of access to those materials. By familiarizing folklorists and others with the quantity, quality and diversity of folklife resources in the Library, the authors hope to encourage productive and creative use of the institution.
Ethnographic Collections in the Archive of Folk Culture is the result of an effort at the American Folklife Center to educate both folklife researchers and library professionals about the care and use of ethnographic collections. Currently, the chief spokesperson for that effort is the center's archivist, Stephanie Hall. In her new booklet, Dr. Hall describes the terms under which collections may be donated to the American Folklife Center and how the collection should be prepared for transmittal. She gives detailed instructions for arranging and numbering collection materials of various formats, including audio and video tape recordings, manuscripts, photographs, film and computer disks.
The Archive of Folk Culture at the Library of Congress houses one of the largest collections of ethnographic documentation in the world, protects these materials for the use of future generations and makes them available to researchers interested in the study of culture. Its holdings encompass all aspects of folk music, dance, narrative, arts and material culture of all nations. The more that contributors to this national folk archives follow the instructions in Dr. Hall's booklet, the safer and more useful their collections will be.
Both booklets are illustrated. Single copies are free upon request from the Library of Congress, American Folklife Center, Washington, DC 20540-8100.
