The State College of Washington began an audio-visual education service in 1938. The Audio Visual Center came into existence with quarters in the new Holland Library in 1950. The Center offered four main types of service: film distribution, field service, instruction and research, and film reference and program planning. Its name was changed to Instructional Media Services circa 1977. Over time, and with changes in technology and an increasing capability for remote instruction, the functions of IMS split in two directions, with collection maintenance remaining in the Libraries, and instruction aligning with WHETS and similar programs aimed at distance classes. The Library portion eventually became Media, Materials, and Reserves (MMR) and closed in 2017. The non-Library portion has evolved through a variety of names, including Academic Media Services (AMS), and Academic Outreach and Innovation (AOI).
The collection consists of photographs of activities, services, and equipment at academic audio visual centers around the state of Washington. This includes photographs of audio visual centers at four non-WSU colleges; a set of what appear to be filming activities at Pullman public schools and at WSU’s Todd Hall; and some that are unlabeled but which appear to primarily be WSU’s Audio Visual Center. Many of the images, particularly the non-WSU ones, are labeled, but few are dated.
The collection is broken into six folders. The photos at the non-WSU colleges are filed in the first four folders, arranged alphabetically. The photos at Pullman public schools and at WSU’s Todd Hall are in folder 5. The final folder is everything else, all unlabeled but which appear to primarily be WSU’s Audio Visual Center.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright restrictions apply. Materials created by WSU and its employees remain under the school’s copyright until 120 years after their creation.
[Item description]
Washington State University Audio Visual Center Photographs, circa 1958-1985 (PC 204)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
The materials in this collection were transferred the WSU Libraries’ MASC from the Libraries’ Media, Materials, and Reserves (MMR) in spring of 2017 when that department was closing, and were retained as UPC-1705. These materials had simply been sitting untouched on shelves for many years.
University archivist Mark O’English processed this collection in March of 2022.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.