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Re: Securing boxes for storage



On Thu, 6 Dec 2001, Kellams, Dina M wrote:

> Greetings!
>
> In the next year or so, we are going to have to move a good deal of our
> collections to a new offsite storage facility.  We've had some discussion
> about how to secure the box lids.  We're leaning towards taping the boxes
> shut but are a bit concerned about what that's going to do to the box after
> 2 or 3 uses.  What have others in the same situation done?

Not having ready access to a shrink-wrapping machine large enough to
handle record size boxes (and not having the time to "blow dry" the
plastic with a handheld hair dryer), we use ordinary plastic strapping
and metal or plastic buckles such as are used on a loading dock.
It's a very cheap system and works effectively, as long as the person
doing the strapping can pull the strap tight enough so it cannot be
slipped off and back on.  We use this system for our boxes housed in
an off-campus warehouse, and it guards against boxes tipping and
spilling, and discourages casual snooping.  When a box is retrieved,
we cut and discard the strap, then re-strap it when it goes back.
Obviously, this doesn't prevent someone from opening the box, but
since they *don't* use strapping at our warehouse, if it were removed,
we'd know that the seal had been broken and could then make inquiries.

Several years ago, we tried a special kind of red sealing tape that
claimed that if you removed the tape, it would leave behind residue
indicating the seal had been broken, and the tape couldn't be
re-sealed again.  We found this stuff to be worthless, as the tape
could very easily be re-sealed several times just with the tape's own
adhesive.  And it left a sticky residue on the outside of the boxes
when it was removed.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

James Stimpert                       ** PLEASE USE THE FOLLOWING:
Archives (Arts and Sciences)         E-mail:    stimpert@jhu.edu
MSE Library
Johns Hopkins University             Voice:     (410) 516-8323
3400 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD  21218                 Fax:       (410) 516-7202

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