Curriculum Materials Centers, traced as far back as the 1920's, have existed under a variety of names and with a variety of functions. The concept of a curriculum laboratory (one of the many commonly used terms) varies from that of a place or room with equipment and materials to that of a service in which leadership in the use of these materials is also provided. Church feels that they have survived because of this very ability to vary their functions to serve their particular parent institution remaining adaptable to disseminate the curriculum and instructional materials needed in the form desired by their clientele. Ironically, however, this ability to adapt and vary their functions has caused some confusion as to the primary purpose and goals of curriculum materials centers or laboratories. Institutions interested in the establishment of their own curriculum laboratories have expressed concern over how to begin. This phenomenon of uncertainty has been reported by several researchers: Church, 1957 James, 1963 Mac Vean, 1960 Flandro, 1957 and Zembrodt, 1944.While each of these studies (as will be reported later) were able to provide some initial guidelines, it would appear that it is necessary for each curriculum materials center to define its own needs and responsibilities. For this reason, information for a particular curriculum materials center must be solicited from the clientele it serves.