Print Resources

Jefferson Miller, photographer. *Salsa workshop band in rehearsal, Johnny Colon School of Music, New York, New York*. 1982. Ethnic Heritage and Language Schools in America Project Collection. Library of Congress American Folklife Center.

The American Folklife Center's Reading Room in Washington, DC holds a robust collection of over 3,000 monographs and over 550 serials. As such, the AFC reference collection is a useful place to start for both general research and more focused studies. Educators may be particularly interested in the Center's reference collection, as the Reading Room contains helpful encyclopedias and publications related to AFC archival collections. Our print reference collection can also be a useful starting point for finding further resources through searching related subject headings.

Searching the AFC Reference Collection

The catalog search filter below will allow you to explore what is physically held in the American Folklife Reading Room. If you are interested in finding these same titles in your local library, check by title, author, or ISBN in the Online World Catalog (www.worldcat.org External).

Search the Library of Congress Online Catalog
To limit your search in the LC catalog to items and collections held by the American Folklife Center in the Reading Room, choose the Advanced Search option, then click on the "Add Limits" button (below the boxes for entering search terms). In the box labeled "Locations in the Library," select "American Folklife Reference Collection" (see image below). Enter your search terms, and then select "search" (toward the bottom of the screen) to display results held in the Center's Reading Room.

Enter your search terms, and then select "search" (toward the bottom of the screen) to display results held by the American Folklife Center.

The links below will perform example searches for items on the AFC Reading Room Shelf
- Search "Cultural Heritage" as a keyword in the AFC Reference Collection.
- Search "Protest" as a keyword in the AFC Reference Collection.

Selected Resources

Below is a selection of encyclopedias to help researchers acquaint themselves with folklore studies and allied fields. To find them in your local library or request via Interlibrary Loan, please use the title, author, or ISBN to search in the Online World Catalog, www.worldcat.org External

The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are included when available.

Search the Library Catalog for Encyclopedias held by the AFC
A list of encyclopedias as found in the American Folklife Center's reference shelves. Browse as if you were here in the reading room with us!
Search the Library Catalog for Bibliographies held by the AFC
A list of bibliographies as found in the American Folklife Center's reference shelves.
Search Bibliographies in the the Library of Congress' Main Reading Room
A list of bibliographies as found in the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress, covering a variety of subjects.

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America by Andrew Smith (Editor-In-Chief)
Call Number: The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America
ISBN: 9780199734962
Published/Created: 2012-11-30
The second edition of The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America thoroughly updates the original, award-winning title, while capturing the shifting American perspective on food and ensuring that this title is the most authoritative, current reference work on American cuisine. In over 1,400 entries, this new edition of The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America reflects the many changes in American food consciousness during the twenty-first century.
The Oxford Handbook of American Folklore and Folklife Studies by Simon J. Bronner
Call Number: GR105 .O83 2019
ISBN: 9780190840617
Published/Created: 2019-09-03
The Oxford Handbook of American Folklore and Folklife Studies surveys the materials, approaches, concepts, and applications of the field to provide a sweeping guide to American folklore and folklife, culture, history, and society. Forty-three comprehensive and diverse chapters delve into significant themes and methods of folklore and folklife study; established expressions and activities; spheres and locations of folkloric action; and shared cultures and common identities. Beyond the longstanding arenas of academic focus developed throughout the 350-year legacy of folklore and folklife study, contributors at the forefront of the field also explore exciting new areas of attention that have emerged in the twenty-first century such as the Internet, bodylore, folklore of organizations and networks, sexual orientation, neurodiverse identities, and disability groups.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods in Education by George W. Noblit (Editor-In-Chief)
Call Number: LB1028 .O94 2020
ISBN: 9780190643751
Published/Created: 2020-01-02
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods in Education has brought together scholars from across the globe who use qualitative methods in their research to address the history, current uses, adaptations for specific knowledge domains and situations, and problematics that drive the methodology. The two-volume set is the most comprehensive resource available on qualitative methods in education. For those who teach these methods, the Encyclopedia is an invaluable compendium that can be tapped for inclusion in courses and to enable the instructor to be able to quickly respond to specific student needs with high-quality methodological resources.

The Library's Serial and Government Publications Division maintains one of the most extensive collections of newspapers, current periodicals, comic books, and government publications. With over 25,000 non-US titles, it is the largest collection of international newspapers in the world. These materials are served in the Library's Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room.

Below are example searches and a selection of serials the American Folklife Center currently receives in its archives, which does not include titles attained electronically. The materials linked below provide fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog, including holdings for each title. Links to digitized versions are provided when available.

Periodicals in the American Folklife Center's Reference Collection
These journals, newspapers, and other serials are held in the AFC's Reading Room. Links to digitized versions are provided in the item's holdings when available.
Periodicals throughout the American Folklife Center
A list of further related newspapers, journals, and other periodicals throughout the American Folklife Center's collections.

Journal of Folklore Research by Indiana University Folklore Institute
Call Number: GR1 .I5
ISBN: 0737-7037
Published/Created: 1983-
The Journal of American Folklore by American Folklore Society
Call Number: GR1 .J8
ISBN: 0021-8715
Published/Created: 1988-

Below are sample searches within the Library's online catalog, with limiters for subject headings related to studies on folklore and folk music, as well as by location in the Library.

The following selection of titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are included when available.

Search for materials with subject "folklore" held by the AFC
This example catalog search is limited to subject term "folklore," with location limited to "American Folklife Center Reference Collection"

Meaning of Folklore by Alan Dundes; Simon J. Bronner (Editor)
Call Number: GR71 .D88 2007
ISBN: 9780874216837
Published/Created: 2007-10-31
The essays of Alan Dundes virtually created the meaning of folklore as an American academic discipline. Yet many of them went quickly out of print after their initial publication in far-flung journals. Brought together for the first time in this volume compiled and edited by Simon Bronner, the selection surveys Dundes's major ideas and emphases, and is introduced by Bronner with a thorough analysis of Dundes's long career, his interpretations, and his contribution to folklore studies.
Tale Type and Motif Indexes by David S. Azzolina
Call Number: Z5983.L5 A98 1987 GR74.6
ISBN: 0824087887
Published/Created: 1987-01-01

Catalog Search: Subject All "Folk Literature" held in the American Folklife Center Reference Collection
Catalog search with subject term "folk literature," with location limited to "American Folklife Center Reference Collection"

Motif-Index of Folk-Literature by Stith Thompson
Call Number: GR72.56 .T48 1989
ISBN: 0253338875
Published/Created: 1958-01-01
A well-known classification of narrative elements in folktales, ballads, myths, fables, medieval romances, exempla, fabliaux, jest-books, and local legends.

Catalog Search: Subject All "Folk Songs" held in the American Folklife Center Reference Collection
Catalog search with subject term "folk songs," with location limited to "American Folklife Center Reference Collection"

American Folk Songs by Norm Cohen (Editor)
Call Number: ML3551 .C55 2008
ISBN: 9780313340475
Published/Created: 2008-09-30
This state-by-state collection of folksongs describes the history, society, culture, and events characteristic of all fifty states. Unlike all other state folksong collections, this one does not focus on songs collected in the particular states, but rather on songs concerning the life and times of the people of that state. The topics range from the major historical events, such as the Boston Tea Party, the attack on Fort Sumter, and the California Gold Rush, to regionally important events such as disasters and murders, labor problems, occupational songs, ethnic conflicts. Some of the songs will be widely recognized, such as Casey Jones, Marching Through Georgia, or Sweet Betsy from Pike. Others, less familiar, have not been reprinted since their original publication, but deserve to be studied because of what they tell about the people of these United States, their loves, labors, and losses, and their responses to events.

Catalog Search: Subject All "Folk Music" held in the American Folklife Center Reference Collection
Catalog search with subject term "folk music," with location limited to "American Folklife Center Reference Collection"

Folk City by Stephen Petrus; Ronald D. Cohen
Call Number: ML3551.8.N49 P48 2015
ISBN: 9780190231026
Published/Created: 2015-07-06
From Washington Square Park and the Gaslight Cafe to WNYC Radio and Folkways Records, New York City's cultural, artistic, and commercial assets helped to shape a distinctively urban breeding ground for the folk music revival of the 1950s and 60s. Folk City explores New York's central role infueling the nationwide craze for folk music in postwar America. It involves the efforts of record company producers and executives, club owners, concert promoters, festival organizers, musicologists, agents and managers, editors and writers - and, of course, musicians and audiences.

Catalog Search: Subject All "Foodways" held throughout the Library of Congress
Catalog search with subject term "foodways," with location NOT limited.

Talking about Food by Sofia Rüdiger (Editor); Susanne Mühleisen (Editor)
Call Number: https://lccn.loc.gov/2020014930
ISBN: 9789027207081
Published/Created: 2020-06-18
All humans eat and all humans speak - activities which in social life often, but not always, co-occur: We talk while eating and drinking with others, but food is also a prominent literal and metaphorical discursive topic which contributes to establishing communities and identities. This omnipresence of eating and drinking in our daily lives has led to a public fascination with foodways. The contributions in this edited collection investigate the connection between language and food from a variety of perspectives. As food discourses operate on local, global, and mediated levels, they are intertwined with notions of identity and culture and thus shed light on intimate understandings of ourselves as human beings.

The Peachite Vol. II, No. 2, Folk Festival Number, March , 1944. Lewis Jones and Willis James Recordings at Fort Valley State College. Library of Congress American Folklife Center.

Katherine Olson, photographer. Bobbie Thompson of the Hollow Rock String Band playing on guitar and talking with her daughter, Jessica, with Henry Reed looking on. 1967. Library of Congress American Folklife Center.

Lottie Espinosa seated with guitar, full-length portrait, photograph. Pacific Grove California, 1939. W.P.A. California Folk Music Project collection. Library of Congress American Folklife Center.

Higher Education Resources Available in the American Folklife Center

American Folklife Center: Ask a Librarian