Using the Analog Slide Collection...

Locating Slides:

The fine art slides are organized first by country. Within the country, the artists are then listed alphabetically by last name according to the medium of their artwork (sculpture, painting, textiles, graphic design, photography, installation, video, performance, etc.). Many of the slides are further organized under the artist's name by the creation date of the artwork.

So, if you were looking for an image of a photograph by American photographer, Barbara Ess, you would:
1. Go to the United States section
2. Find the photography section within the USA section
3. Look for slides listed under her last name, "Ess."

It is important to know the artist's country of origin. The majority of our slides are organized by where the artist was born, regardless of whether or not he or she works primarily in a different country. The Getty's Union List of Artist Names is a very useful resource to help determine the artist's country of origin as well as to find proper/preferred spellings of the artist's name.

The Architecture slides are arranged by period (ancient, medieval, renaissance, modern, etc.). The slides are then alphabetically arranged by country, city and then by location of the site. Architecture slides are kept in the large gray cabinets that line the perimeter of the room.

There are exceptions to all of the above guidelines and the collection has many various organizational quirks, so if you cannot locate a slide or simply have questions or need help, please, please, please do not hesitate to ask any of the VRC staff. We are here to help you and will do our best to help you and answer your questions.

Faculty Information on Checking Out Slides:

If you are using the VRC's resources for the first time, please see one of the VRC staff members when you stop in. We will give you a quick tour of the collection and will assign numbered checkout cards for you to use when checking out slides.

Faculty may check out slides for a reasonable amount of time. Please be considerate of our other patrons and return your slides as soon as you are finished using them. All slides checked out must be returned at the end of each semester or a $7.00 charge per unreturned slide will be assessed.

There is a small form that must be filled out each time you check out slides. Please make sure the completed form is given to a library staff member.

Please make sure a library staff member checks in your slides and/or equipment when you return them. Fees for unreturned slides are $7.00 per slide. Please note that in addition to the aforementioned fines, failure to return slides or equipment could result in the loss of your library privileges so please return everything on time.

Student Information on Checking Out Slides:

If you are using the VRC's resources for the first time, please see one of the library staff members when you stop in. We will give you a quick tour of the collection and show you how to find the slides you need and check them out. We will also have you fill out a special form in order to check out the slides you've chosen.

Students may only check out slides for 24 hours. Slides must be returned the following day BEFORE 5pm. If you would like to pull slides several days or even a week before your presentation, that is fine and in fact we encourage this. We will hold your slides here until the day of your presentation. You may come in any time to review those slides, check out more, arrange your presentation, etc., during our regular hours of operation.

We also have two caramate projectors here in the Visual Resources Center that you may use to review your presentations.

If you need help loading slides into a slide tray/carousel, please ask- we'll be happy to show you how.

When you return your slides, please make sure that a library staff member checks in your slides and/or equipment. Fees for lost or broken slides are $7.00 per slide and late fees for all equipment is $5.00 per day. Those fines can add up quickly- so please return everything on time. In addition to the fines, failure to return equipment or slides could result in the loss of your library privileges and/or a block on your grades and registration.

Requesting Images :

If you do not find the slides you are looking for, you may request images to be made that will be kept in our collection. Please click here for guidelines and more information on requesting images.