View XML QR Code

Washington Higher Education Telecommunication System Records, 1971-1995

Overview of the Collection

Title
Washington Higher Education Telecommunication System Records
Dates
1971-1995 (inclusive)
Quantity
3 Linear feet of shelf space, (6 boxes)
Collection Number
Archives 291 (collection)
Summary
The original purpose of the Washington Higher Education Telecommunication System was to develop an interactive video communications system that would benefit technology firms in Eastern Washington by allowing both graduate level and continuing education classes in high technology fields to be taught remotely. The collection contains administrative and technical documents pertaining to the establishment and management of WHETS.
Repository
Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Terrell Library Suite 12
Pullman, WA
99164-5610
Telephone: 509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Access Restrictions

This collection is open and available for research use.

Languages
English
Return to Top

Historical Note

On January 13, 1984, the Washington State University Board of Regents approved the establishment of the Washington Education Telecommunications System (WETS) and the system went active in the fall of 1985. An early idea for this system was described in 1973 in “A Multipurpose Communication Network Prototype” (see Folders 29-34 of this collection). The original purpose of WETS was to develop an interactive video communications system that would benefit technology firms in Eastern Washington by allowing both graduate level and continuing education classes in high technology fields to be taught remotely. With the establishment of WSU’s branch campuses in Spokane, Vancouver, and Tri-Cities in 1989, WHETS became a central part of class delivery to those campuses. The name of the system was changed in 1986 to Washington Higher Education Telecommunications System (WHETS), and then to Academic Media Services (AMS) in 2006.

Return to Top

Content Description

The collection is organized into two series. The first series deals with the administrative side of WHETS, and is broken into three chronologically-ordered subseries: board meeting minutes and memoranda and enrollment statistics, and other miscellaneous administrative documents including the WHETS 1995 Task Force report and operational budgets and expansion. The second series contains technical aspects of WHETS such as building plans, equipment used, and information for different campus building plans such as WSU – Tri-Cities. This second series in maintained in its original order.

Return to Top

Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

[Item Description] WHETS Records, 1971-1995 (Archives 291)

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

Return to Top

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

The administrative and technical papers of the Washington Higher Education Telecommunication System (WHETS) were given to the Washington State Libraries in two separate accessions on January 31, 2006 (UA2006-01), June 5, 2009 (UA2009-08), and Noember 3, 2016 (UA2016-05).

Processing Note

This collection was processed by graduate library science student Katrina Burch with aid from University Archivist Mark O’English in June of 2010. The small amount of material received in November 2016 was interfiled at that time.

Return to Top

Detailed Description of the Collection

Finding aid prepared by Mark O’English
2016

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

About Creative Commons Licenses in Archives West