Storage of oversize drawings

We have numbers of oversize architectural drawings that have been
executed on various types of plastic drafting film.  These drawings
often come to us straight from the architect's office, rolled in
piles of 10 to twenty, and stuffed into mailing tubes.  Does anyone
have experience with the storage of such objects?  I'm sure they
vary in their chemical stability according to the type of plastic
base, coating, media, etc.  Should we store them flat to avoid any
possibility that future embrittlement may one day result in damage
during unrolling?  Flat storage would be problematic, since they are
not only large but heavy, and we couldn't but many together in one
folder.  Do other institutions store such drawings rolled on wide
diameter tubes? I'd appreciate your suggestions.

Karen Potje
Canadian Centre for Architecture

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 10:14
                 Distributed: Thursday, August 1, 1996
                       Message Id: cdl-10-14-007
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