The Elizabeth D. Alley Visual Resources Collection

CURATORS
Cynthia Frank, Director
cfrank@umd.edu
Christine Hinojosa, Assistant Director
hinojosa@umd.edu

HOURS AND LOCATION
9:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Monday–Friday
ARC 1107

PHONE
301-405-6321

FAX
301-314-9583

The Elizabeth D. Alley Visual Resources Collection (VRC), named for the curator who founded the collection in 1967, is conveniently located in Room 1107 of the School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. The VRC consists of more than 400,000 slides and digital images documenting architecture and the urban scene from pre-historic times to the present.  Related topics include art, landscape architecture, urban design, and historic preservation.  Other visual materials include over 400 DVDs and videotapes, along with lantern slides and photographs. Images are acquired through commercial vendors, site photography, copystand photography, and donations from faculty and students.

Copyright:  All materials in the VRC are subject to copyright restrictions. Images in the VRC are used for educational purposes only. See copyright information for further details.

The VRC is organized in a user-friendly manner, with images being categorized in two major sections: the Geographic Collection and the Special Collection. Most images are classified by location and building type. Since 1996, all new acquisitions and relabeled Collection slides have been cataloged using a database, which serves as a research tool to search the collection by building type, key word, architect, city, source, book, or other category.

The VRC is a reserve collection, meaning that slides are kept on reserve in the room for the School’s faculty and students. Images and other materials may be used for presentations in School classes and for research. Please see our User Information for further details.

Equipment: LCD and slide projectors, digital and film cameras, and video equipment are available to students and faculty for use in class and for research and project site documentation.