RE: [AV Media Matters] DVD & laserdiscs

[rohre@arlut.utexas.edu]

Hi Beth,
Care of plastic new media is not all that different than other archival disc
media, even Long Playing records or tapes.  You do not want to scratch the
recorded surface and thus the non label side should never be laid upon a table
etc, without being in the jewel box or protective sleeve.  Dust is the enemy
of archival media of many forms, and so is temperature and humidity.  An
environment indoors that is comfortable for humans is adequate for a useage
environment, but I like to store media in cool, dust free, and protected areas
with fire alarm protection, storage that will not flood, or have an air
conditioning failure.  Thus, our storage of masters is done in rooms with two
independent air conditioning systems.  Some building wide chilled water
systems may need a local filter added to keep usual hall building dust out of
the media storage areas. An inside the area self contained air conditioner of
the freon type will usually have its own filter.  The HEPA filters are better
for blocking small particles.

Often overlooked is the tiled floor of rooms used for storage.  Long term use
of wax on tiles leads to dust buildup.

These are some preliminary thoughts I can offer, and surely others will add to
them.

Stuart Rohre
UTX Applied Research Labs.

There are folks on the list who run long term storage facilities, and I know
there has been magazine coverage of the set up that Hollywood Vaults offers.
They have a very nice storage facility, that a library would do well to
emulate as much as you can.  In a school library, I would have metal cabinets
with doors to store media.  I think like tapes, disks should be stored
vertically, or with jewel boxes such that the recorded surface is not resting
upon the sleeve or box.  Some, (most?) storage boxes support the disk at the
hub such that the surface does not touch the bottom of the case for this
reason.  I avoid particle board cabinets for fear of moisture retention, and
this also applies to cardboard storage boxes.  There are coated boxes made for
media, when a paper based product must be used for economy.