The Rio Grande Folklore Archive

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Mark Glazer, Ph.D., Head
Mia-Marisol Buentello, Student Archivists
Mariza Gonzalez, Student Archivists

Introduction

The Rio Grande Folklore Archive, situated in The University of Texas-Pan American Library, is one of the largest collections of Mexican American folklore and specializes in computerized data bases. A full recount of the archive this semester has revealed that the archive has over 99,000 items of folklore. It is one of less than half a dozen archives nationally or internationally to use a computer as an integral part of its data base and archiving operations. The Archive is listed by the Folklore Section of the Congressional Library, Washington, DC in its list of major American folklore archives and The Center for Text and Technology that lists Projects in Electronic Text at Georgetown University.

The Rio Grande Folklore Archive is the major depository for the folklore of the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas and Northern Tamaulipas, Mexico. This archive's holdings include over 99,000 items which represent the major genres of folklore. Data for the Rio Grande Folklore Archive is collected on the basis of genre specific collection forms. For example, "The Folktale Collection Form" is specifically designed to collect folktales. Demographic and contextual information is also collected for all genres of folklore. This has resulted in the collection of a random sampling of the folklore of the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. This method of collection, which is essentially a survey, provides a more scientific view of the overall characteristics of a genre of folklore because the information is collected systematically and is internally consistent. A continuous attempt has been made to enter these materials into on line databases by student archivists hired by the archive. Presently the following items are on line at the archive: folk beliefs: 7245, proverbs: 3485, tales: 2781. We also have a 1036- item index bibliography of contemporary legends. The major need the archive has is in updating its current computer hardware and software. The present computers, other hardware and software used at the depository are out of date. This makes it impossible to create the data bases we need at this facility. Having the folklore materials fully on line would make it possible for this depository to be one of only two archives (the only fully on line folklore archive is at the University of Detroit) where this has been accomplished. The present hardware and software do not have the ability to fully store the materials at hand or the materials we will be collecting.

Holdings of the Rio Grande Folklore Archive