Focused Project Formatting Guidelines

Title Page

This is the first page of your project. The title of your project should be descriptive of its contents and should be centered on the page. Ten spaces below, also centered, put your name. Centered ten spaces below add Utah State University, Fife Folklore, Logan, Utah; centered ten spaces below add the course name and number, the instructor's name, and the year of the class.

Release Form

Two types of release forms are necessary and must be included with your project if it is to be archived in the Fife Folklore Archives. The purpose of these forms is to protect you as the collector and the archives as the repository, and to insure that informants are aware of what happens to the material they contribute. Intellectual property rights reside with the informant and the collector.

Collector Release Form

A release form must be signed by you and included as the second sheet of your project. By signing it, you release your project to the USU Fife Folklore Archives. By submitting your project to the Fife Folklore Archive you do not give up intellectual property rights to your work. You may add restrictions to the material if you feel they are necessary. Also, you may opt not to submit your project to the Archives but rather have your instructor return it to you after grading. If you choose to NOT submit your project, write "DO NOT ARCHIVE" boldly over the face of this release form.

Informant Release Form

There should be one completed and signed release form or hoja de consentimiento for each informant you contact. This form allows your informant to release material in your project to you and the Folklore Archives and should be placed following the Collector Release Form. By releasing their interview/folklore item to you and the Folklore Archives, the informant does not give up intellectual property rights. 

Table of Contents

The table of contents page lists the items (collected texts or material culture objects) in your collection.

Cover Essay

The cover essay is a 5- to 10-page analysis on your collection in which you address such questions as: Why did you select your topic? What was your method for collecting and organizing your material? What conclusions can you draw from the material you collected? What did you learn from the project--both about the topic and personally?

Autobiographical Sketch

This is a 1 page information report on you. It lets future readers of your project know more about the person who collected the material. It should cover demographical information about you as well as any attitudes, beliefs, or pertinent data that bear on the material in the project. Note: Extremely personal information is discouraged.

Documented Folklore Items

These are your ten to twenty items of folklore documented in the required format. See the detailed documentation guide.