Microfiche

Microfiche sheets, which hold up to 60 individual file pages, were used by HRAF from 1984 through 1994. Microfiche sheets contain "flashers" -- eye-readable OCM category numbers which indicate the beginning of each new category.

HRAF Indexing of Individual Pages

As shown in the illustration below, the HRAF indexers labeled the top of each page in the file with the source number, author’s last name, a code for the level of training of the author followed by a numerical rating of the source, the date of the field work, the date of the work’s publication, the name of the culture and the Outline of World Cultures (OWC) Code.  Along the right or left side of each page, indexers wrote Outline of Cultural Materials (OCM) Codes as shown below.

OCM Codes

Keys to Author Training Codes

• A - Archaeologist, Antiquarian
• B - Folklorist
• C - Technical Personnel (engineers, agricultural experts, foreign aid advisors)
• D - Physician, Physical Anthropologist
• E - Ethnologist, Social Anthropologist (formerly used also for Sociologist, see Z)
• F - Foreign Resident
• G - Government Official (Administrator, soldier, foreign diplomat)
• H - Historian
• I - Indigene
• J - Journalist
• K - Geographer
• L - Linguist
• M - Missionary, Clergyman
• N - Natural or Physical Scientist
• O - Lawyer, Judicial
• P - Psychologist
• Q - Humanist (philosopher, critic, editor, writer, etc.)
• R - Artisan (artist, musician, architect, dancer)
• S - Social Scientist (other than those designated)
• T - Traveler (tourist, explorer)
• U - Unknown
• V - Political Scientist, Propagandist
• W - Organizational Documents and Reports (constitutions, law codes, government or UN reports and documents, censuses)
• X - Economist, Businessman
• Y - Educator (teacher, school administrator)
• Z - Sociologist

Source Evaluation Codes (A rating of the quality of the data).

• 1 - Poor sources
• 2 - Fair sources
• 3 - Good, useful sources, but not uniformly excellent
• 4 - Excellent secondary data such as compilations and/or interpretations of original data and primary documents
• 5 - Excellent primary data such as: travelers' accounts, ethnological studies, and primary documents such as legal documents, autobiographies, etc.

Outline of World Cultures Geographical Regions

• A - Asia
• E - Europe
• F* - Africa
• M* - Middle East
• N - North America
• O - Oceania
• R - Eurasia
• S - South America

(*Note:  Muslim societies in Africa are classified as being in the Middle East.) 

For the complete alphanumeric regional list of the cultures, see the Outline of World Cultures. You might also want to consult the Atlas of World Cultures. For a complete list of the ethnographic files that HRAF has completed — whether in microfiche or in their digital eHRAF collection, see this printable Adobe PDF version of HRAF’s Complete Collection List through 2008.

Send comments and suggestions about this page to: Corryn Crosby-Muilenburg
Last updated: April 27, 2009

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