The EFA functions as a central folklore archive in Estonia which also carries out research projects on folklore both independently and in co-operation with other scientific institutions. In addition to Estonian material, the scope of the Archives also covers the folklore of other peoples, mainly that of the Finno-Ugrians (Livonian, Votic, Finnish, Izhorian, Karelian, Vepsian, Mordvinian, Mari, Komi, Udmurt, Khanty, Hungarian material), but also other peoples living in Estonia or its vicinity (Russian, Lithuanian, Latvian, German, Jewish, Swedish, Gypsy material).
The EFA includes collections of manuscripts, photographs, sound and video recordings. By the beginning of 1999 the Archives contained 23 folklore collections in manuscript to a total of 1,310,793 pages, a photo collection of 17,764 photographs, and a sound archive including 101,937 pieces, 208 video tapes and films.

The earliest manuscript folklore samples in the EFA date back to the beginning of the 19th century and belong to the folklore collections of the Literary Union of Estonia and of the Estonian Learned Society. The most important period in the collection of Estonian folklore is connected with the activities of Dr. Jakob Hurt (1839-1907) and Matthias Johann Eisen (1857-1934). J. Hurt began collecting folklore in 1860 with the help of his relatives and acquaintances, but soon realised that the collection of folklore had to become an nation-wide undertaking. The 162-volume collection of J. Hurt, the result of his determined activities, is at present the most precious in the Archives in terms of both their content and the exact data attached to a record.
A significant role in the gathering of Estonian folklore was also played by Dr. Oskar Kallas (1868-1946), who between 1904 and 1916 organised the systematic and scientific collection of folk melodies in collaboration with the Estonian Students' Society. The importance of this collection lies above all in the great number of folk songs joined to the melodies (a total of 13,139 tunes).
In the 1930s, the EFA initiated several competitions of folklore collection and, in addition to Estonian folklore, the gathering of material concerning other peoples was begun. Besides the collection of oral tradition, the collection of manuscript song-books, rhyme albums, oracles, etc. was also started.

Immediately after the founding of the EFA, a foundation was laid for the photographic collection. The oldest photographs in the Archives date back to the end of the 19th century, presenting the well-known folklore collectors of the time. The photographic collection of EFA includes mainly photographs portraying tradition-bearers and folklorists in the field, but also those depicting landscapes and objects related to folk tradition.

The first recordings of Estonian folk music were made in 1912 by A. O. Väisänen with the Edison phonograph. In 1927 the phonographs present were brought to the Estonian Folklore Archives, where systematic recording was initiated. In 1936-1938 more than 700 pieces of the best Estonian (but also Livonian, Izhorian and Latvian) singers and musicians were recorded on gramophone records. In the 1950s magnetic tapes were introduced; the first films appeared a decade later. The share of audio and videotapes in the Archives has steadily increased, especially due to the arrival of modern digital technology in the second half of the 1990s.

The materials stored in the EFA have been divided into series and complete volumes. Several card files have been set up in order to find information from different collections of the Archives. The files of the EFA can be divided into three groups:

1) index files which provide miscellaneous information (the topographical distribution of items, folklore collectors and performers; index files of recordings and photographs);

2) content files of Estonian folklore for every separate folkloric genre: e.g. songs, games and dances, melodies, folk tales and legends, short forms of folklore, accounts of belief and customs, magic spells, etc.;

3) content files of Jewish, Livonian and Russian folklore.

The current research projects of the Archives concern digital archiving, folk songs and narratives, contemporary folklore, the traditional culture of Estonians in Siberian settlements and the folklore of other Finno-Ugrian peoples. The EFA is preparing an academic source publication of folk song in a series Monumenta Estoniae Antiquae and an anthology of the folklore of the Estonians in Siberia. In cooperation with the folklorists of the Institute of the Estonian Language and the University of Tartu, an electronic database of Estonian folklore based on the material stored at EFA is produced.

See also: http://haldjas.folklore.ee/rli/insti/erai.htm