Washington State University MASC Photo Card Files, 1970-2002

Prior to scanning becoming easy, when materials from MASC's photographic collections needed reproduced, the originals had to be sent to WSU's Photo Services, where a negative was created from the print, and then a new print made. A print was provided to the requester, and the negative retained in a negative file, separate from the originals. Where the image was thought to be of sufficient interest, a second print was retained in MASC and placed on a descriptive card in a public set of card files. While a large majority of the materials in the card file here are duplicates of MASC originals, a small number were created from non-MASC materials.

This collection, probably just under 7500 cards, served a purpose similar to what digital collections came to do, allowing people to browse examples of materials held without having to work in the original collection in its entirety.

Reflecting a pre-digital library, the subjects used for arrangment are somewhat reflective of library catalogs, with some of the cards duplicated to allow filing by more than just subject; in this case by collection, location, or photographer. Included in the description on most cards are both an identifier pointing you at the original source, and a negative number pointing you at the created negative in PC 149, the MASC Negative Files.