Celebrate our 100th Article this Semester and Learn about The Vista Archives

Shay Beezley and Diane Rice are two of the librarians at the University of Central Oklahoma who help maintain The Vista archives at the Special Collections and University Archives Department in the Chambers Library here on campus.

What are The Vista Archives?

The Vista archives are a collection of permanently preserved Vista print newspapers that go as far back as 1903. The Vista also has all its editions on microfilm.

“Microfilm is considered the gold standard for preservation,” said Beezley, the assistant director of metadata and cataloging and the interim coordinator for special collections and university archives for the UCO library.

Newspapers are more likely to crumble and deteriorate, and Microfilm allows researchers to still access those older papers without fear of damaging the original copy.

The physical archives can be found on the second floor of the Chambers Library in room 215. As well as online through arcasearch.

The Vista archive is “one of the easiest ways to track down university history,” said Beezley.

“We transitioned our physical archive to add a digital archive to make it easier for people to do research.”

The Vista History

The Vista is the University of Central Oklahoma’s student-run newspaper that dates back to 1903.

The Vista was in a printed format till August 2025, when the University and staff who are in charge of creating the student media budget decided to cease printing and move to an all-digital format.

Said Beezley, “I know people get nervous when newspapers move to digital only, but digital only is a very normal transition for newspapers.”

“We have seen it for many, many years in libraries, where we will get notice that our print subscriptions are converting to digital, and so long as someone can maintain access, and you have a consistent platform, there will still be a benefit of learning about the history of UCO through The Vista’s online platform.”

Plans to Archive Now That The Vista Is Digital

The current Vista Digital Editor, Addyson Riemer, has been working on archiving the articles that have been published this semester. Riemer has been putting together a PDF collection of articles published weekly to send over to Beezley.

The current archives are a bit behind due to the switch to fully digital, but they can be accessed through arcasearch under The Vista tab on our website.

The Vista and UCO Fun Facts

Diane Rice, one of the Archive technicians, was filled with fun facts regarding The Vista archives, along with fun facts about UCO.

Fact 1: Rice said, “During World War Two, there were six servicemen’s editions of The Vista.” One of the history professors at the time made a form that every student and faculty member who had enlisted in the war could fill out so that she could correspond with them and get information about the war. The letters and photographs she received were published in the six special editions of The Vista.

Fact 2: “Reba Collins was a journalism professor who was a faculty advisor to the Vista and wrote its history.  Her collections include ‘underground’ off-campus newspapers written by students in the 1960s and a humorous list of ‘Streaking Rules’ written by psychology faculty during the Streaking craze,” said Rice.

Fact 3: Several special editions of The Vista were in a magazine format in the early 1900s.

Fact 4: In the past, students believed that Broncho Lake had its very own lake monster.

Fact 6: A former UCO athlete competed in the Olympics in Nazi Germany.

Fact 7: Mitchel Hall is supposedly haunted by a ghost named Thornton.

If you want to learn more about these facts, information is available in the archives.

This article was updated to reflect the name change of the Special Collections and University Archives Department in the Chambers Library here on campus.