Preservation of videotapes

For the past 20 years Hawaii Public Television has produced television
programs, live and in some cases pre-recorded, which focus on Hawaii's
contemporary social, political, economic and cultural issues.  With the
permission from the television studios, the University of Hawaii Library
has taped these programs off-air.  The result is a large and constantly
growing collection of video tapes that comprise a rich and valuable
resource for scholars of contemporary Hawaii.
  
I have read the special issues of Restaurator and Library Technology
Reports that focused on electronic media.  My question is--are there
other libraries that have similar collections?  What are they doing to
preserve these collections?  Do they make back-up or archival copies,
and if so where are they storing these?  It seems to me that we need to
do something to save these unique resources.  Our earliest tapes need to
be protected, not an easy job in the tropical climate we live in.  Can
anyone offer some ideas regarding this?  Looking forward to hearing from
the Conservation DistList

Agnes Quigg
Preservation Officer
University of Hawaii Library

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 6:53
                 Distributed: Saturday, April 10, 1993
                        Message Id: cdl-6-53-015
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