An agreement made between MSU and Michigan Government Television in December will make it easier for students and faculty to follow the state government.

The complete archives of MGTV, a cable network started in 1996, are available for viewing on videotapes at University Archives & Historical Collections between 8 a.m. and noon and 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays in 101 Conrad Hall.

The videotapes have been available on MSU’s campus for a few years, but the two parties had never reached a formal agreement.

MGTV director Bill Trevarthen said the archives had to be requested in the past.

“Now, students or faculty can go over to the archives and make arrangements to see the tapes,” he said. “It’s a tremendous resource to study or compare what’s been going on in Michigan’s government over the past five or more years.”

Since 1996, MGTV has recorded two videos per day, five days per week.

Fred Honhart, University Archives & Historical Collections director, said he is looking forward to having students and faculty take advantage of the videotapes.

“The tapes are available to anybody,” he said. “It’s a resource that’s there for people who want to find out what Michigan’s government has been doing.”

Trevarthen said he went to MSU first with the offer to harbor the tapes for a few reasons.

“The archives represent a visual record of the people of the state, and MSU, being a land-grant college, is the people’s university,” he said.

“In a lot of ways, before there was an MGTV, there were no video recordings of anything like that. These days when it comes to records of historical events, you have to go beyond writing and reading, you have to adapt to the changing world.”