For over 70 years, HRAF has served the educational community and contributed to an understanding of world cultures by assembling, indexing, and providing access to primary research materials relevant to the social sciences, as well as by stimulating and facilitating training and research in these fields. The following timeline shows some of the major highlights throughout the history of the Human Relations Area Files.
New era of eHRAF live for all users
August 1, 2023
![New era of eHRAF live for all users](https://hraf.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Screenshot-2023-08-01-at-21-16-54-eHRAF-Archaeology-350x120.jpg)
After years of development, beta testing, and user feedback, the latest eHRAF World Cultures and eHRAF Archaeology applications replaced the retired legacy versions on August 1, 2023. Feedback on the new databases over the past two years was overwhelmingly positive from both longtime and new users of eHRAF. The new applications boast a host of new features including enhanced filters, search insights and notebooks, as well as speed improvements and a lighter and more intuitive design.
Read moreLegacy (2013) eHRAF applications retired
July 31, 2023
![Legacy (2013) eHRAF applications retired](https://hraf.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screenshot_2020-03-21-eHRAF-World-Cultures.png)
The “classic” eHRAF World Cultures and eHRAF Archaeology applications that were first designed and built in-house by developers at HRAF in 2013 were officially retired on July 31, 2023. Both applications have been updated with a brand new look, performance enhancements and additional features.
Read moreNew eHRAF World Cultures application launches
August 15, 2022
![New eHRAF World Cultures application launches](https://hraf.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/New-application-snapshots-350x120.png)
The new eHRAF World Cultures application offers a fresh look and feel that combines the best aspects of our classic eHRAF interface with a host of added features and enhancements. For example, search filters have been expanded with new options, and users can customize how they would like their search results to be displayed on the page. The Search Insights panel offers additional options for visualizing and drilling down through results sets. An exciting new development for researchers is the eHRAF Notebook, which allows paragraph search results to be saved, organized, annotated, and shared. In addition to the sleek new appearance, users benefit from many performance upgrades enabling faster searching and more relevant paragraph results.
Read moreTeaching eHRAF revamped
August 20, 2017
![Teaching eHRAF revamped](https://hraf.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/interactive-view.png)
Teaching eHRAF, the collection of companion teaching exercises for eHRAF World Cultures, eHRAF Archaeology and Explaining Human Culture, got a new look and feel in August 2017.
Read moreBeta development begins on eHRAF World Cultures
July 1, 2016
![Beta development begins on eHRAF World Cultures](https://hraf.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Home-eHRAF-World-Cultures-Beta-350x120.jpg)
HRAF IT began developing a new version of our flagship eHRAF World Cultures application in 2016. By 2020, the new application would be in the final stages of beta testing, with an anticipated launch date of 2022. At the heart of the new application design, headed by HRAF Software Engineer Matthew Roth, is a much-anticipated Notebook feature to allow users to save, share, and annotate search results. The new application will also receive a number of performance upgrades enabling faster searching and more relevant results.
Read moreHRAF expands collaboration with D-PLACE
July 1, 2016
![HRAF expands collaboration with D-PLACE](https://hraf.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/HRAF-DP-link-feature.png)
D-PLACE is an expandable and open-access database that brings together a dispersed corpus of information on the geography, language, culture, and environment of over 1400 human societies. In July 2016, it became easier than ever to follow links from the coded data in D-PLACE directly into the eHRAF World Cultures.
Read moreExplaining Human Culture
June 24, 2016
![Explaining Human Culture](https://hraf.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/collage-thumb.png)
In the summer of 2016, HRAF launched Explaining Human Culture, an open access database containing information on over 1,000 cross-cultural studies spanning more than 100 years. EHC provides a searchable way for researchers to find out what we have learned from previous cross-cultural research about cultural universals and differences.
Read moreIntroducing Cross-Cultural Research
June 23, 2016
![Introducing Cross-Cultural Research](https://hraf.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/ccc-crop.jpg)
In 2016, HRAF diversified its product offerings with new open-access resources for learning and teaching. Introducing Cross-Cultural Research is a visual online course on the fundamentals of cross-cultural research produced by Carol Ember, HRAF President.
Read moreCitations and Permalinks added to eHRAF
May 14, 2015
![Citations and Permalinks added to eHRAF](https://hraf.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/cite-button-animated.gif)
In 2015, quick and easy citations and document permalinks were added to the eHRAF databases, making saving and sharing documents and search results a snap.
Read moreNew HRAF homepage launches
March 11, 2014
![New HRAF homepage launches](https://hraf.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/HRAF-Home.png)
The Human Relations Area Files homepage was re-launched with a fresh new look and design. The new URL, hraf.yale.edu, is now home to the eHRAF Highlights anthropology blog, user guides, teaching exercises and pages of information about cross-cultural research. It has quickly become an indispensable companion to the eHRAF databases.
Read moreNew eHRAF World Cultures application goes live
July 1, 2013
![New eHRAF World Cultures application goes live](https://hraf.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screenshot_2020-03-21-Witchcraft-oracles-and-magic-among-the-Azande-on-eHRAF-World-Cultures.png)
This updated version of eHRAF World Cultures was designed and built in-house by developers at HRAF. Software engineers Doug Black and Matthew Roth worked to improve the front end with more user-friendly revisions, creating the familiar interface that users got to know and love for the next decade until the latest launch in 2022.
Read moreNew eHRAF World Cultures application online
February 1, 2008
![New eHRAF World Cultures application online](https://hraf.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/eHRAF-Culture-Summary.png)
On February 1, 2008, HRAF began hosting its own application, re-titled eHRAF World Cultures.
Read moreeHRAF Archaeology goes online
January 1, 1999
![eHRAF Archaeology goes online](https://hraf.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/eHRAF-Archaeology.png)
eHRAF Archaeology became HRAF’s second electronic database. It has been building solely in electronic format since 1999. Expanding annually, this database covers major archaeological traditions and many more sub-traditions and sites around the world. Learn more.
Read moreFirst online eHRAF Collection of Ethnography opens
January 1, 1997
![First online eHRAF Collection of Ethnography opens](https://hraf.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/2007-Database.jpg)
The first online version of the eHRAF Collection of Ethnography was available in 1997 and was hosted by the Digital Library Production Service at the University of Michigan.
Read moreHRAF goes electronic
April 1, 1995
The first installment of the full-text HRAF Collection of Ethnography on CD-ROM (eHRAF) was available to members in April 1995. The CDs were produced for 7 years.
Read moreMicrofiche no longer produced
January 1, 1993
![Microfiche no longer produced](https://hraf.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/FicheKey_forWeb.gif)
The HRAF Collection of Ethnography was originally distributed as paper files. From the early 1960s until 1994, most members received their annual installments on microfiche.
Read moreCross-cultural CDs available
September 1, 1989
![Cross-cultural CDs available](https://hraf.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/cd-257025_640.jpg)
In the 1980s, HRAF began developing an electronic publishing program with the intention of distributing the Collection of Ethnography exclusively through electronic means. In 1989, HRAF’s Cross-Cultural CDs provided researchers with ten topics including old age, marriage, religion, and human sexuality, excerpted from HRAF’s Sixty Culture Probability Sample Files (PSF). There were five volumes in total. The final volume was released in 1995.
Read moreHRAF Files distributed in microfiche
January 1, 1958
![HRAF Files distributed in microfiche](https://hraf.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/fiche.jpg)
Wider distribution of the HRAF Collection of Ethnography was facilitated in 1958 with the development of the HRAF Microfiche Files.
Read moreHRAF Collection of Ethnography paper files released
June 1, 1949
![HRAF Collection of Ethnography paper files released](https://hraf.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/PaperFileKey_forWeb.gif)
From 1949 to 1958, the HRAF Collection of Ethnography was produced and distributed as paper files: source materials were manually reproduced on 5″ x 8″ paper slips called File pages, and then indexed by subject (OCM) category and filed by culture.
Read moreHRAF founded
May 7, 1949
![HRAF founded](https://hraf.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/755Prospect.jpg)
Human Relations Area Files, Inc. has been a financially autonomous research agency based at Yale University since 1949. On February 26, 1949, delegates from Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Washington, and Yale University met in New Haven, Connecticut to pledge their membership in a new nonprofit research consortium to be based at Yale. On May 7, 1949, the HRAF consortium was formally established.
Read moreResearchers begin work on Cross-Cultural Survey
January 1, 1935
![Researchers begin work on Cross-Cultural Survey](https://hraf.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/HRAF-historic.jpg)
In 1935, a small group of researchers at the interdisciplinary Institute of Human Relations, Yale University, under the direction of the Institute’s Director, Mark A. May, and Professor George Peter Murdock, began to design a system that would allow the rapid retrieval of information on a broad range of societies. The resulting Cross-Cultural Survey would become the foundation for the HRAF Collection of Ethnography.
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