Follow up to this post:
So, I sent an email to the manager of WGBH an email in regards to gaining access to view the episodes on the premise if research actually IS required or not before making a trip down there; I would have called them again, but after my last awkward experience and having to sit through some pretty cheesy jazz music while I was on hold, I felt I should email the man who might have better answers. This is what I sent to him:
My name is Alex Mack, and I am emailing you in regards to some questions I have within your library of Sesame Street episodes from the American Archives of Public Broadcasting. I understand (or at least think, based off the website showing video files from this link:
https://americanarchive.org/catalog?f[access_types][]=digitized&f[series_titles][]=Sesame+Street&page=1&per_page=100&sort=episode_number_sort+asc) that the library is now loaded up to the show’s 15th season, and they’re available for viewing on the premises of the library of Congress in Washington DC and WGBH with an appointment. I am a resident in the Massachusetts area and had some questions in regards to viewing those episodes at WGBH. I understand certain programs you have loaded up need research required to view them, but I wanted to ask if the same applies for the Sesame Street episodes currently loaded up for viewing. The reason I ask is because I spoke with a woman on the phone once about coming down to view the episodes, but she didn’t seem to understand what I was talking about until I brought up the American Archives to her, to which she mentioned research was required to view those episodes. It made me confused because I was reading this article here (
https://americanarchive.org/on-location), which said “Members of the general public may access the entire collection within the WGBH Media Library and Archives offices and at the Library of Congress Moving Image and Recorded Sound Research Centers.” So, my main question in regards to this email is, is research required to view these episodes in addition to setting up an appointment, or are these available for viewing for the general public as long as an appointment is set up to come down to view the episodes?
I hope to hear from you soon. Thank you for time in regards to this email.
Sincerely,
Alex
And in general, this should also hopefully clear up any confusion for other Mass residents on this site. If I don’t hear back from him by Monday then I’ll try another call.