Microfilm storage boxes

The Minnesota Historical Society currently uses an acid-free storage box
for its' printing and security masters as well as the use copy of each
film.  Use copies are retrieved self-service from cabinets in the
microfilm room and reshelved by staff.  We have used acid-free boxes
from Pholig Bros., and are currently purchasing from Microfilm Products
Co., largely based on prices bid.  We routinely test each shipment with
the Tri-Test kit just to be sure after discovering a problem with a very
large shipment of acid-free containers purchased for a grant project.
We replaced boxes as they become tattered, although this seems to take
years in our collection which is fairly heavily used.

In the past, black polypropylene boxes were used for a while.  The boxes
in which the Kodak camera film came in were re-used and additional boxes
manufactured by the Zeta Corp. were purchased from National Microsales,
Stratford, CT.  The use of these was discontinued in part due to
difficulty in getting our labels to remain adhered; we use a custom
acid-free paper/acrylic adhesive label.  The polypropylene boxes do take
slightly more storage space than an acid-free box so there are cost
implications in terms of how many storage cabinets are needed.  I have
proposed using them for inter-library loan since they are *very* robust,
but the additional labor for creating additional individual labels for
essentially one time and short term use in the quantity that would be
required has proved to be a barrier.

Bob Herskovitz
Head, Conservation Department
Minnesota Historical Society

Michael Fox
Head of Processing
Minnesota Historical Society

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 8:28
                Distributed: Wednesday, October 19, 1994
                        Message Id: cdl-8-28-002
                                  ***