Nitrate negatives

Rebecca L. Yokum <rly5f [at] cms__mail__virginia__edu> writes

>We are in the process of deep freezing some of our nitrate
>negatives. Will a standard self defrosting freezer that you would
>find in most households do the trick or do we need to invest in
>something else?

A freezer like the kind used for  home use is not adequate for the
appropriate storage of nitrate negatives.  Nitrate needs more than
the cold. It requires low levels of humidity as well.  Freezers used
in the home do allow minimum levels of condensation to infiltrate.
For the exact specifications needed for the adequate storage of
nitrate negatives, I would contact the curatorial department at the
Museum of Modern Art in New York City or the Film Preservation
Department at UCLA.

Lori Arnold
Architectural Conservator
John Milner Associates
Philadelphia, PA

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 13:20
               Distributed: Thursday, September 16, 1999
                       Message Id: cdl-13-20-006
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