Wesleyan University audio visual collection

The Wesleyan University audio visual collection is arranged in series by media type. Material within each series is arranged in numerical order. Each series starts with Box 1 and item one, so that new material can easily be added without shifting boxes or changing box numbers. An earlier system, for example, did not always distinguish between a reel-to-reel audio tape and an audio cassette. Both would be given the next number and then housed in the same box. Housing material in different formats in the same container has been discontinued.

Eight series have been established. Series I: Tape recordings consists of reel-to-reel audiotapes. The tapes carry the prefix TW followed by an item number. Items that are on audiocassettes are found in Series III. Series II: Video recordings consists primarily of films on videocassette. These items carry the prefix VTW followed by an item number. The videocassettes are primarily in VHS format, although a few are Betamax and are noted in the listing. Series III: Audiocassettes consists of material on audiocassette and carry the prefix AC followed by a number. Since some cassettes had been accessioned as a TW number, cross references have been placed from TW to AC. Example: Wesleyan Spirits in Concert at Alpha Delta Phi (TW 86) see: Audio Cassette AC 5. Series IV: CD format. Series V: Oversize items, followed by a number. There are cross-references from the original series to the oversize location. Series VI: Unprocessed material consists of music disks and reel-to-reel films in metal canisters. Some general description of this material is available in the collections file for this series. Series VII: DVD format. Series VIII: Record albums.

Some items are available in more than one format. When this occurs, a cross reference is made. For example, the Jeffrey Schiff videotape of the Library Project Symposium is also available as a DVD, so a cross reference is made from VTW 38 to CD/DVD 1. It should be noted that there is one tape (TW 32) that is labeled as confidential.