The JoAnn Elam collection primarily consists of films made by independent filmmaker JoAnn Elam. Elam primarily shot on 8mm film, although she did work extensively with 16mm, Super-8mm film and early video. A number of 8mm films have been printed to Super-8mm stock, and films like Rape (1975) and the unfinished Everyday People employed multiple formats (16mm, video, and 8mm). This collection also contains several historically important medical films made by James O. Elam, M.D., JoAnn Elam's father, which document his development of the "rescue breathing" technique and numerous other advances in clinical anesthesiology and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Additionally, there are at least two titles by experimental filmmakers and artists Dan Perz and Ruth Klasses. This collection is sponsored by Susan Elam, Kenneth Belcher and Sandy Ihm.

SERIES I of the JoAnn Elam Collection contains 16mm and 8mm films made by JoAnn Elam. These include finished 16mm films, such as DAYTIME TELEVISION, as well as numerous 8mm works, including CHOCOLATE CAKE (c. 1973) and GRAINS (c. 1973). Also included in this series are home movies and unedited films, or sketches, made by JoAnn Elam. These films feature aspects of her everyday life and local events ranging from the Palmer Square Art Fair in the 1970s to the Blizzard of '79. She shot a number of reels of 8mm film while she was living in San Francisco in the summer of 1967, and during her time at Antioch College and in Yellow Springs, Ohio.