Audiovisual Recordings

The Ransom Center's audiovisual recordings include both commercial and non-commercial recordings in a variety of formats.

Streaming for most recordings is available only onsite in the Reading Room and is limited to those items for which an access copy has been created. Some audiovisual material can be streamed from the Center's Digital Collections

For instructions and tips on using this resource, please consult the research guide.

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  Sound recording formats include wax cylinders, phonograph records, wire recordings, dictation discs and belts, reel-to-reel audio tapes, audiocassettes, microcassettes, compact discs, and other digital audio formats.

  Moving image recording formats include motion picture film, videotapes, optical discs, and digital motion picture formats.

  Unpublished audio recordings include conference proceedings, dictated notes and letters, field recordings, interviews, lectures, musical performances, radio broadcasts, rehearsals, and other recordings made for private, non-commercial use.

  Unpublished moving image recordings include auditions, screentests, acting classes, performances, interviews, home movies, field recordings, camera experiments, outs and trims, dailies, and other recordings made for private, non-commercial use.

  Published recordings include music and spoken word from major and historic labels and feature films.

  Notable holdings include recordings from the archives of Stella Adler, John Beecher, Robert DeNiro, Erle Stanley Gardner, Norman Bel Geddes, Bonita Granville, Spalding Gray, Mel Gussow, Tobe Hooper, Norman Mailer, Nicholas Ray, Ross Russell and Dial Records (and Addition to his papers), Paul Schrader, David O. Selznick, Gloria Swanson, and Mike Wallace.

  If an online or access copy does not exist, patrons may request digitization for subsequent access in the Reading Room. The Ransom Center will not duplicate any recordings at risk of damage by the digitization process. Due to copyright and donor restrictions, some recordings are only available onsite and may not be distributed, even for research purposes. Anyone wishing to obtain personal copies must secure written permission from any and all rights holders. The Center maintains the WATCH file, a database of copyright contacts for writers, artists, and prominent people in other creative fields. A joint project of the Harry Ransom Center and University of Reading Library in England, WATCH may help in ascertaining rights status.