[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: odors coming from Audio and video collections



Rob:
Vinegar syndrome can occur in any "acetate" base material.  Dr. John Van
Bogart of the National Media Lab defines vinegar syndrome as "characteristic
of the decomposition of acetate based magnetic tape where acetic acid is a
substantial by-product that gives the tape a vinegar-like odor.  After the
onset of the vinegar syndrome, acetate tape backings degrade at an
accelerated rate - the hydrolysis of the acetate is catalyzed further by the
presence of acetic acid by-product."  ("Magnetic Tape Storage and Handling,
A Guide for Libraries and Archives", Dr. John W. C. Van Bogart, published by
The Commission on Preservation and Access, June 1995)  Both your audio tapes
and your video tapes are a form of magnetic tape.  Microfilm and
photographic negatives manufactured with an acetate base material are also
susceptible to vinegar syndrome.  High humidity accelerates the onset of
vinegar syndrome as well as some other mag tape binder problems so you may
want to investigate how much the proximity to the pool area is affecting
your storage environment.

Ginny Jones
(Virginia A. Jones, CRM, MIT, LIT)
Newport News Waterworks
Newport News, VA
vjones@ci.newport-news.va.us

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rob Dishon [mailto:rdishon@LAGCC.CUNY.EDU]
> Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2000 1:47 PM
> To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
> Subject: Re: odors coming from Audio and video collections
>
>
> But doesnt vinegar syndrome only effect negatives...  I wasnt
> aware the modern day audio and video tape had the same
> properties as negatives.   My photo and negative collections
> are in another storage area.
>
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to
> listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
>       In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
>                     *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
> To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu
>
> Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
>      http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html
>
> Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>
>

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>