Barcodes

Here at the University of Minnesota we made the decision to put the
barcode label on an acid-free slip which will be inserted in the volume.
Although I do not have any technical information to back this up, I
would assume that the adhesive solvent itself is sufficiently volitile
to be a concern when applied directly to a rare item even if it is on
the book plate.

With respect to directly generating barcode labels on acid-free paper...
I don't recommend trying to make a photocopied image of a barcode label.
The technical requirements for barcode symbology are VERY strict.
Unless you have a copier which is capable of making a photo-offset
quality image you are likely to have a lot of frustration with "bad
reads".  The printers which work well for UPC Code printing, which has a
much looser technical requirement than Code 39 or Codabar, which are
more suited to library applications, do not work well for the higher
density label requirements of the latter two symbologies.  I'd be happy
to discuss this further if there is interest.

Don Kelsey, Preservation Officer
....and Barcode Person

                                  ***
                   Conservation DistList Instance 4:3
                   Distributed: Tuesday, May 19, 1990
                        Message Id: cdl-4-3-005
                                  ***