The Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Research (IEF) was founded in Zagreb in 1948. It was conceived as a centre for the musicological and linguistic study of folk songs and dances and oral literary genres, and today it is a centre for ethnological, folkloristic, ethnomusicological and related research in the Republic of Croatia. An important part of the IEF's scholarly activity is the academic journal Folk Art, published in Croatian and English, as well as the publication of monographs and collections within the New Ethnography book series.

In addition to the research and publishing, the IEF engages in highly developed library and documentation activity. The IEF's Library keeps rare domestic and foreign editions vital to the study of ethnology, folklore, anthropology and Slavic studies. The IEF's documentation encompasses a collection of documents on the Croatian traditional culture of the 20^th and early 21^st century. The materials were entered in the Register of Movable Cultural Monuments of the Regional Cultural Monument Protection Institute in Zagreb in 1991 and can be searched in the Digital Repository of the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Research (DIEF).