Re: [AV Media Matters] Detailed look at history of stickytapesyndrome

[<rohre@ARLUT.UTEXAS.EDU>]

Excellent summary Jim on the sticky shed treatments!

Thank you very much for sharing your expertise and experience.  I
might mention we have seen this on all the major brands of tapes we
used over the years.

To date, I have NOT seen it on any VHS tapes we have used on digital
VHS modified instrumentation applications.  Our tapes there date
from 1983 on to the present.

Smaller format tapes are easier to store and are usually provided in
the professional applications with an optional Library box, a
plastic container which helps seal the tape against the environment.
Keeping the archives in closed metal cabinets also helps us control
the exposure of our tapes to dust and undesirable environment.

Other plastic media can suffer problems as evidenced by the gold vs
green CD materials of a few years ago.  CD Plastics could certainly
have outgassing, embrittlement issues and should be stored in a
controlled environment just like tapes should to prolong the life of
the media.

Apparently, the only sure solution to archival problems is to
migrate your archive to the later robust media as they develop; for
the problem is not only preserving the media, but a playback station
years after the playback instrument is out of production, with
subsequent lack of service support. One expedient is to store two
machines, and hope to have enough parts between them to keep one
working.

Stuart Rohre
Media Archivist
Applied Research Labs, U TX