"Ethnographies are first-hand descriptive works of a culture or ethnic group based on an anthropologist's immersion and participation within the daily life of the people being studied" ("Getting Started with Anthropology").

They are based on participant observation.

The word "ethnography" is not a Library of Congress Subject Heading or Classification (call number). There is not a section of Bizzell Memorial Library devoted to ethnographies. Instead, they will be found throughout the library, based on the call number (classification) of the ethnic group or geographic area of your particular subject.

You must search Discover Local Catalog to find ethnographies.

Finding ethnographies can be difficult. Most ethnographies do not have the word "ethnography" as part of their titles. A keyword search of an ethnic group will retrieve books about that group but not necessarily ethnographies.

Ethnographies usually fall under the subject heading Social Life and Customs. Try searching the catalog using the phrase social life and customs and the name of an ethnic group. Example: Yoruba social life and customs

It is important to note that not all titles under this subject heading are ethnographies. Read the methodology sections of books to determine if they are ethnographies.

If you find a title and are unsure if it is an ethnography, it might be helpful to look for a book review of the title. Most reviewers will indicate if a work is an ethnography.

Some ethnographies might focus on narrower topics such as kinship, religion, rites, or ceremonies. Conducting a catalog search with the name of the ethnic group and one of these keywords may be helpful. (For example, yoruba rites.)

Search examples: Combine the name of the ethnic group with keywords. Use the asterisk (*) to search for variations of a word:

• yoruba social life and customs
• yoruba ethno* (searches for ethnography, ethnographic, ethnology, etc.)
• yoruba religi* (searches for religion, religious, etc.)
• yoruba rit* (searches for rites, rituals, etc.)