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US Postal Service Irradiation of Mail and its Impact on Collection Material



Apologies for the duplication, if any.  I checked the
Listserv's archives since I've been "no mail" since
before MAC but found no subject that sounded like
this.

I'm passing along information circulated internally at
MPM concerning he irradiation of mail by USPS.  If you
check on the link below, you'll find a long a detailed
explanation of the effect of radiation on a
variety of items, not just biological specimens.

http://www.si.edu/scmre/mail_irradiation.html

Certain types of film, magnetic media and the original
colors or materials will be affected as well as the
DNA of biological speciments Right now, the postal
service is limiting irradiation to letters but it's
possible packages will get dosed eventually.

Gardeners note: seeds sent through this process will
be rendered sterile.

Has anyone been looking at their loan (for microfilm,
for example) policies with this in mind?  MPM  uses
UPS or FedEx to send items out, but we have problems
getting borrowers to return via these more expensive
options.  They use Library Rate despite our requests
not to.

If you have seen any information from NARA or LC on
this question, I'd appreciate receiving a link or
message forward.

Judy Turner

Judith Campbell Turner
Director, Library and Archives
Milwaukee Public Museum
800 W. Wells Street
Milwaukee, WI  53233

414-278-2730
414-278-6100 (fax)
jat@mpm.edu

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