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Re: [ARSCLIST] March '09 AV Media Preservation Program in Austin, TX - Save the Date!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Biel" <mbiel@xxxxxxxxx>
Steven C. Barr wrote
Well, I don't have the $200...nor any way to get to Austin, Texas...!
However, I DO have some experience in the area, since I'm currently
preserving some 52,000+ 78rpm phonorecords successfully...?!
Steven C. Barr
Oshawa, Ont'o., Canada
Somehow, I don't think that this organization is looking for speakers
explaining how stacking milk crates of 78s from the cellar to the attic
of an unclimatecontrolled house crawling with cats is a preferred
preservation method. Not that some of us are able to do much better,
but at least we know it.
1) The current feline population is exactly ONE! This, of course, is
subject to change...but the only cat-urine-damaged records are in
a group of "junk" 78's I was given about 20 years ago...!
2) The house is NOT totally "un-climate-controlled!" I purchased a
dehumidifier to protect the 78's stored in the basement, and it never
gets hot enough in here, even in mid-suffer (er, suMMer...possibly
a freudian slip there...?!) to have any effect on shellac discs!
3) "Milk boxes" are actually an ideal method of storing 78's...! They
hold about 120 (135 for the older, larger ones...!) in a vertical
position...just as would much more expensive shelving! They are
also FAIRLY easy to move (even at my advanced age) since a
full box weighs 60-65 lbs. (22-25 kg.), which I can still lift and
carry! Since adequately-strong metal shelving is hard to find and
quite expensive, the only practical alternative would be to have
wood shelves custom-built (I know a few Toronto collectors
who have done this...they're all A LOT richer than I am...?!)
When (assuming I LIVE that long...?!) I finally get my half-
vast shellac archives in order (label, then catalog number...!)
I'll be much better off...however, it seems to me so far that
shellac phonorecords are fairly immune to damage (as long
as they are NOT dropped...!)
Steven C. Barr