Visual Resources Collection Facilities

VRC 2012
^{Visual Resources Collection, Room 300, Lawrence Hall}

The Visual Resources Collection is on the third floor of Lawrence Hall --a space designed to accommodate analog collections as well as production of digital visual materials. The space and the collections continually respond to the teaching, research and study needs of the UO campus.

2010-

The AAA Library Secure collections began to quickly outgrow the space designated for their storage. In the summer of 2010 the VRC was reconfigured to accommodate four flat map cases and a number of bins for storing large rolled paper items, freeing up space in the AAA Secure vault.
	The Architectural Drawings Collection consists of ca. 3500 architectural plans and renderings. Due to a decrease in the use of 35mm slides in favor of digital collections for teaching, the VRC was able to remove three large light tables and compact the slide cabinets. Map cases and bins could then be positioned on the west wall of the VRC and a new large table added to assist in viewing the Architectural Drawings.
	The slide viewing area with its two projectors was deconstructed and the copy stand, once used to shoot slide film by VRC staff, was moved into the main room for public use. Also included in the materials moved from the AAA Library were a number of student architectural models, which are now displayed on top of the slide cabinets.

As the 35mm slide collection is deaccessioned, the elimination of slide cabinets will continue, and the VRC space will be further retasked in response to Library and AAA needs.

1990-2010

	In 1990 a new south extension to Lawrence Hall was built. Included in these new spaces were the AAA Library and the VRC. The new VRC has a bow-shaped facade and many windows. The space is divided into discrete work areas: the main room to house the slide collection, a workroom for technical processing, a preview room for collection users, and an office for the Curator. In a room adjacent to the slide area is space to house the photograph collection and a photography studio with a sink.
The southern exposure is ideal during the Oregon winter season and sunny summers. Blinds allow regulation of light as needed. The Circulation Desk stands near the entrance. Slide cabinets form two rows with light carrels and tables in between.
	The light fixtures from the Multiplex rack cabinets were fitted into the custom-built light carrels. New wood bases are used to elevate the slide drawer units and also serve as storage cabinets. The open door leads into the technical processing workroom. Beyond the slide cabinets is the entrance to the Curator's office.

1985-1989

	The slide collection was housed in Multiplex cabinets. Four lighted surfaces on two tables provided workspace for users, primarily faculty from the School of Architecture and Allied Arts. After hours, the collection was the repository for borrowed equipment.
Users found creative ways to see the images in the racks, not always choosing the safest methods. The small space became even smaller when the room was crowded with users. Outside, in the hallway, students viewed pictures posted from the Photograph Collection. Part of the space used to house the photograph cabinets was used by the Head Librarian and the Reference Librarian as offices.
	Space needed for slide binding and typing labels was one in the same with the users' space. The closet served as the "photography studio." The first major improvement in the collection was the replacement of the Multiplex (rack) cabinets with Neumade (drawer) units. The so-called office of curator Christine Sundt, pictured in a less than serious moment with student workers, was behind the partition (actually a very large bookcase).