[ARSCLIST] Acetate disc sleeves

[Eric Jacobs <ericj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

What are your preferred sleeves for storing acetate (nitrocellulose) discs?

Here's the debate (per "Preservation and Storage of Sound Recordings",
Pickett and Lemcoe, 1959):

1.  The deterioration of nitrocellulose is accelerated by moisture
2.  The deterioration of nitrocellulose is accelerated by lack of air
circulation

Which is the lesser evil - moisture or air circulation?

Assume that the storage environment is approximately 70F and 50% RH and
stable, and that the records may potentially remain undisturbed for many
decades:

A.  Does the disc benefit from the additional protection of a vapor barrier
as part of the envelope?  Or does the vapor barrier prevent adequate air
circulation?  For example, a polyethylene sleeve, or a multi-layer
paper/poly/foil/poly sleeve.

B.  Or are you better off with a 10-point folder paper type envelope which
will breathe better than a sleeve with a vapor barrier?

C.  What about paper type sleeves with center cut-outs for viewing the
label?  They provide good air circulation, but provide no protection against
contaminants or moisture.

Now that our collection has been properly cleaned and transferred (16-inch
audiodiscs), we would like to store it as well as possible, including the
selection of an optimal sleeve.

Eric Jacobs
The Audio Archive