Content Disclaimer

The primary source material housed in a folklore archives are the traditional expressions (jokes, legends, customs, recipes, etc.) of an ongoing culture. At Utah State University's Fife Folklore Archives there are three primary source collections: The Fife Mormon and Americana Collections, the Student Folklore Genre Collection and the Student Fieldwork Collection. The material in the Fife Mormon and Americana Collection (FOLK COLL 4) were collected by Austin and Alta Fife, senior folklore scholars, and reflect the vernacular expressions of the Inter-mountain West. The material in the Student Folklore Genre Collection (FOLK COLL 8a) and Student Fieldwork Collections (FOLK COLL 7 & 8) were collected by university students in folklore classes as a means of learning, identifying, and analyzing folklore. The items are housed in the Fife Folklore Archives, a division of Special Collections and Archives, Utah State University Libraries, for preservation and research. While the content of the items may or may not be objectively factual, the presence of the folk expression in a community reflects the shared attitudes and values, both esoteric and exoteric, of the community they are collected from and thus constitute an important social record.


Some of the items in the collections may be sensitive and may or may not be the opinions, ideas, or beliefs of the students who collected the materials or their informants. The University does not endorse the information in the collection, likewise, the materials contained in the collections do not represent the opinions of Utah State University, University Libraries, or USU Special Collections and Archives. While the collections contain materials that may be considered prejudiced, stereotyped or offensive, it should be remembered that the folk data is an important resource in the study of contemporary and past cultures. We take our responsibilities as a repository of such material seriously. All individuals who wish to use these materials are required to complete and deposit the Fife Folklore Archives Use Agreement and Reproduction Order form and to observe all applicable copyright laws.