Welcome to the Introduction to Folklore LibGuide!
Folklore is alive
and inspires the choices we make every day: how we communicate, what foods we eat, what games we play, what stories we tell, how we interpret the world around us. Folklore reflects our values, our prejudices, our fears, and our desires. The practices, beliefs, and objects that constitute folklore are so intrinsic to our daily lives that they are often overlooked in other disciplines that study human culture, but every culture has folklore and we are all part of the folk. In this course we will consider the role folklore plays in the lives of people around the world.
Participants in the Bernese Carnival 2010, dressed as butterflies. "Berner Fasnacht 2010 010" by Sandstein - Own work, CC Wikimedia Commons
Folklore Resources at Indiana University
- Folklore Reference GuideThis guide will introduce you to indexes, bibliographies, encylopedias, and dictionaries useful for research in folklore and ethnomusicology. Some are available as ebooks; most are in print only. Most of the print reference tools live on the Folklore Reference Shelves on the 7th floor of the Wells Library.
- Folklore Subject PageThe IU Libraries' Folklore and Ethnomusicology Collection is the largest, most comprehensive library collection devoted to this subject in the world.
We collect scholarly publications and primary materials in folklore and ethnomusicology in all languages and formats. The collection includes folk literature and customs, folk music, dance, mythology, museum and heritage studies, folk art and craft, vernacular architecture, and much more.