Microfilm Storage

   At St. Bonaventure University we are currently storing about 270
reels of 35 mm master negatives at a commercial vault (Iron Mountain).
Storage and handling costs on these reels take up a significant chunk of
my preservation budget (about $500 a year and rising).  We are looking
for less costly alternatives.   We would even be willing to give the
bulk of the master negatives to a larger institution or a public
depository with the proviso that they continue to be treated as master
negatives and stored under archival conditions.    We would also expect
that copies should remain available to ourselves and other members of
the library and research community at cost (film + shipping +
administrative overhead).

   The microfilmed materials deal with the theology, philosophy and
history of the Franciscan Order.  They were chosen from the library of
the Franciscan Institute; a library which contains the best collection
of Franciscana in the Americas and which can only be compared to a few
libraries in Europe in the regard.  The microfilmed titles are the
result of two grant funded brittle book microfilming projects.  Many, if
not most, of these titles are not represented in any other library in
the Americas.

   The storage problem we are facing is one that many smaller
institutions will encounter as they begin microfilming deteriorating
materials.  Any information concerning other alternatives or
institutions that might house such a collection would be appreciated.

Pete Jermann
Preservation Officer
Friedsam Memorial Library
St. Bonaventure University

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                   Conservation DistList Instance 5:7
                   Distributed: Sunday, June 30, 1991
                        Message Id: cdl-5-7-004
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