[ARSCLIST] Adhesive tape survey

[Christie Peterson <cpeterso@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello, ARSC-listers:

I'm looking into what kind of adhesive tape to use to affix the end of 
1/4" open-reel audio tape to the reel for long-term storage.  As an 
archivist, I am perhaps obsessively afraid of adhesive tape (it still 
makes me cringe a little inside every time I have to use splicing tape), 
since I have seen first-hand what it does after 20, 40, 60, etc. years.  
Still, I am at least equally afraid of damage to improperly stored audio 
tapes, so I'm looking for advice.

From those of you who have been in the "business" for multiple decades, 
and/or who have worked extensively with older tapes, what type of 
adhesive tape do you advise (and not advise) using?  Is there anything 
out there that doesn't seep excessively, or do other *terribly* ugly 
things as it ages?  What do you use and why?

As a corollary, the original tapes I'm working with have been stored 
with their ends un-secured for 30-40 years, and most don't seem to have 
suffered any ill effects from this.   Any opinions/horror stories on the 
importance of taping the end down?

Thanks in advance,

Christie Peterson
Project Archivist, Muskie Archives & Special Collections
Bates College
70 Campus Avenue
Lewiston, ME 04240-6018
(t) 207-753-6918
(f) 207-755-5911