What do we mean by Audio Visual Material?
Audio visual records include motion picture film, filmstrips, sound and video recordings, and multimedia.
Audio visual material can be found in all of the University of Manchester Special Collections sites, including the John Rylands Library, Deansgate, the University of Manchester Main Library, Oxford Road, and the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE(Race Archives and Community Engagement)Centre. We do not hold a large volume of audio visual material, and do not have a separate collection dedicated to the format. The material forms part of a larger collection, predominantly created in a physical medium.
The audio visual collections contain records which were created in the course of the activities of the donor, for example, the film and audio files created by pioneer electronic sound musician Delia Derbyshire which are part of the Delia Derbyshire Archive.
There are also audio visual records which have been created to augment our collections, like readings, documentaries, interviews and oral history recordings with significant or relevant individuals which enhance our understanding of paper material. For example, a documentary film generated by the Lisapo Project, an oral histories project developed by the Community Arts North West to document the stories of Congolese people in Greater Manchester.
Formats available at the University of Manchester
The audio visual material available in our collections include:
- Film footage
- Sound recordings
- Film strips
The storage devices on which these files are stored when transferred to Special Collections include:
- Super 8 film
- 35mm film
- Reel to reel tape
- Video home system tape
- Magnetic recording tape
- Long playing record (LP)
- Audio cassette
- Compact analogue cassette
- Digital Video disc (DVD)
- Compact disc (CD)
- Digital Sound or film files (wav, MP4, mov etc.)
To ensure a more secure medium for the audio visual material, and for ease of access, digitised copies are made and stored in our digital repository, Preservica.
Benefits for Study
The use of different mediums as sources to support research and offer new and different means of communication and analysis. Audio visual material can assist in deepening our understanding of the study of any subject.
Further Information
Some audio visual material can be located via our catalogues. Additional material will require the assistance of a curator for access.
Special Collections
Introducing Special Collections
How to find Special Collections in Library Search
Digital Collections:
Images reproduced with the permission of The John Rylands University Librarian and Director of the University of Manchester Library. All images used on this page are licenced via CC-BY-NC-SA, for further information about each image, please follow the link in the caption description.
If you are interested in using any material from Special Collections please get in contact with our Reading Room staff: uml.special-collections@manchester.ac.uk.
