Finding Materials

The archive is a quite varied and interesting mix of materials. We have video and audio tapes which should be of interest to people in every Communications department. They could prove valuable to you either in your research or in teaching classes.

[Please Note - Some areas of interest are more extensive than others and some areas are more completely cataloged than others. If you are looking for something specific always check our WEBCHECKOUT database first. However, we have many materials (especially recent ones) which have yet to be cataloged and entered into the database. It is a process we continue everyday. So, please feel free to ask IMC staff for help in finding what you need.]

To Get Materials, Get Them Recorded

The IMC’s Archive materials are available to be used in the IMC’s playback room by anyone (faculty on down to undergraduates - with no restrictions). All Archive materials are master copies and they can not be checked out of the IMC. We have lost important tapes or had them damaged when they were lent out in the past.

Never fear! We can quite quickly and easily make a copy for you to take away. If you have a blank videotape or DVD for us to use, just request the archive tape and then follow our standard duplication procedure to have us make a you a copy. The copy is yours to keep. If you don’t have anything to put a copy on, we have some recycled VHS tapes that you can borrow from the IMC for the remainder of the semester.

Undergraduates can also get copies of archive materials, but just like with A/V equipment, they will need the direct permission of a faculty member or graduate student (For more information, see the section on "undergraduate use").

Video Collection Overview

Half of the video collection is made up of the tapes used in the National Television Violence Study (NTVS). The study took place during the mid 1990’s and involved recording lots of network and cable television all day long. The programs then had their content analyzed for violence (amount, type, etc...). The tapes are a pretty broad cross section of television at the time and include newscasts, sports, movies, children's shows, infomercials and network, cable and syndicated programs. There isn’t a complete set of anything, but there are a lot of different things.

The rest of the collection is tapes collected and recorded by the IMC on subjects of interest to those in the College of Communication. Just some of what we have are: compilations of great speeches (from FDR to Reagan), political conventions (1950's to 2004), presidential debates (1960 to 2004), presidential campaigns (1992 to 2004), the Iran/Contra hearings, the Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill hearings, the O.J. Simpson trial, inaugurals, State of the Unions, extensive coverage of the Clinton presidency (including many speeches, the Lewinsky controversy and the impeachment trial), collections of TV commercials (including the Clios 1964 to 1996), examples of speech disorders and therapy, classic Deafness Symposiums, Academy Awards ceremonies (1994 to 2006), "Behind the Scenes" documentaries on filmmaking, and many other documentaries and coverage of breaking news events.

Audio Collection Overview

The majority of the audio collection is a wide variety of cassette recordings. They include: many of the most famous speeches of the 20th century, the Nixon impeachment hearings, coverage of the JFK assassination, coverage of the UT sniper shootings, phonetics tapes, performances of literature by famous authors and actors, and award winning radio commercials. The cornerstone of the audio collection is the UTCL (University of Texas Conversation Library). Gathered together by Dr. Robert Hopper, the UTCL is a large collection of everyday conversation - both in person and through media (phone, TV, radio). Conversations involve families, job/work settings, couples, friends, etc... . Transcripts are available for most UTCL cassettes.

Advertising: We have classic, award winning, and foreign commercials (from the 50’s to present) including most of the Clio awards for more than 30 years, documentaries on the advertising process, children’s advertising, and interviews with those in the business.

Communication Sciences & Disorders: We have archives of documentaries on deaf children, language acquisition in children, accessing and testing speech disorders, examples of different speech disorders, and videos for learning sign language.

Communication Studies: In this archive, we have famous speeches throughout history, presidential inaugurals, examples of student speeches, performances of literature as well as standup comedy, and the UTCL (University of Texas Conversation Library) contains examples of everyday conversation and interaction.

Journalism: This archive has TV and radio news coverage of events such as the JFK assassination, the Million Man March, Princess Diana’s death, the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, the Iran/Contra and Thomas/Hill hearings, the Kennedy-Smith rape trial and the O.J. Simpson trial, political conventions, and documentaries on everything from the LA riots to the holocaust.

RTF: The Radio-TV-Film archive has documentaries and interviews with filmmakers and actors, behind the scenes documentaries on making films and television, documentaries on the history of film and the Hollywood studios, Academy Awards presentations.