facilities
Art and Art History
 

Art History    .    Design  .    Studio Art    .    Visual Art Studies + Art Education

Slides

Access & Slide Circulation Policies
The slide collection primarily supports the teaching needs of the Department of Art and Art History faculty who are offering regularly scheduled classes. Borrowing privileges of slides are extended to other members of the university community when such loans do not interfere with internal needs.

  • VRC staff members will orient new borrowers to the use of the collection.
  • Slides leave the collection for the length of time of the lecture only.
  • Borrowers select and pull their own slides from the files, inserting a designated circulation card where each slide is removed.
  • Each borrower may reserve and check out up to 50 slides per lecture.
  • Slides may be held on reserve for up to 2 weeks in advance.
  • The borrower completes a circulation form that is kept on file until the slides are returned.
  • VRC staff will count and initial the circulation form when the slides go out and when they are returned.
  • Slides do not circulate between semesters.
  • Slides may be checked out to be digitized in the Fine Arts Library for uses set forth in the U.T. System Rules of Thumb for digitizing archival slides.

The Faculty Advisory Committee establishes circulation policies. The purpose of these regulations is to ensure that the slides are available to as many users as possible within the Department of Art and Art History.

Note: The Visual Resources Collection does not lend out slide trays or audio-visual equipment to members of other departments.

Slide Collection Development
Selection of slides for purchase or requesting of slides by copy photography is done by the faculty in consultation with the curator and is based on teaching needs. Funds for acquisitions come from departmental sources.

Sources for Slide Acquisition
Slides for the collection are acquired from various sources: museums, commercial vendors, faculty, on-site photography, copy photography, and donations Regardless of the funding source, all slides acquired become a permanent part of the collection and are for the use of the entire department faculty.

Slide Production Policies
VRC photo services include:


  • Copy photography
  • On-site photography

The purpose of these services is to provide slides for classroom teaching for faculty in the Department of Art & Art History. All slides produced are the property of the UT Art & Art History Visual Resources Collection. The collection photographer is not permitted to use University equipment or facilities to perform image production services for the use of any individual. It is understood that slides made by the collection photographer are for educational purposes only.The photographic equipment and supplies are for official VRC production only.

  • Slides may be made from books and other published sources only when good commercial/museum sources for the images are not available.
  • Slides will be produced in accordance with the fair use guidelines of theUS. Copyright Law and the intellectual property guidelines provided by the UT System Office legal staff.
  • If a request to produce material is considered to be in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law, the request will be denied.
  • The UT System Legal Office has advised us that no more than 25-30% of images (total) per publication should be copied. (This is a cumulative total among all requesters per each publication.)
  • As a general rule, slides may not be duplicated; however, they may be digitized only for uses set forth in the UT System Rules of Thumb for digitizing archival slides (What is Fair Use?)
  • Slides from commercial or museum sources may not be duplicated without advance written permission from the copyright holder. It is the responsibility of the requestor to provide such permissions.

Because of the irregular and infrequent requests for slides, all slide requests and production schedule have to be arranged through the curator. Plan plenty of time ahead, no rush requests can be guaranteed.

Who May Request Slides?
Any member of the Department of Art and Art History faculty may request slides needed for classes to be taught in this department.

Faculty planning to request slides are urged to consult the collection holdings first. This can be done by looking through the collection or by checking the database records on monitors in the VRC room. Slide request forms are available in the Visual Resources Collection.

Conservation Tips
Heat and moisture are harmful to slides. They should be kept in a cool, dry place at all times. Projecting a slide for longer than one minute is damaging to the slide. It is important to determine in advance if the projection equipment to be used is safe for glass-mounted slides. Slides should be stored in a cool, clean, dry environment. (An excellent reference on this subject is the Visual Resources Association publication, Special Bulletin No. 3, "Conservation Practices for Slide and Photograph Collections", 1989, by Christine Sundt.) The issue contains articles on some of the common problems and issues that slide and photograph curators deal with on a daily basis. There are short articles on foggy glass and fungus, products such as film cleaner and alcohol, temperature fluctuations and humidity control. There is also advice on seasonal check-ups for equipment, troubleshooting projector problems, chemical streaking on film, and reevaluating your insurance coverage.