[PADG:1924] Re: opening shrink-wrapped books

["S. Tyra Grant" <stgrant@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Here are three ideas: 1) music CD opener,  2)  ask the shrink wrap machine 
companies if they sell or recommend something  3) I received a little gizmo 
as a promotional item a few years ago---it was a plastic, snail-shaped, 
letter (or shrink wrap) opener---fit in the palm of my hand.  It had a flat 
plastic "shovel" on the leading edge (the head of the snail) to slide under 
the wrapper and then a small blade was tucked inside---so it wouldn't cut 
anything it wasn't supposed to.  I think they might be made to cut shrink 
wrap (we used to use them to slit Mylar) and I'll bet you could find them 
in office supply stores.  Maybe if you find something that works you could 
let us know.

Since we're on the subject---can anyone recommend a good shrink wrap 
machine---$3,000 or less.
Cheers,
Tyra Grant

At 05:12 PM 2/13/2003 -0500, you wrote:
Staff in our acquisitions department are looking for a good way to quickly 
remove shrink wrap from books without causing damage.  They're receiving a 
growing number of books that are individually shrink-wrapped and having 
trouble unwrapping them.  This is especially true for paperbacks, which 
don't have the square of a hard cover to create some air space under the 
wrap.  Has this come up at other libraries?  I don't have any particularly 
good ideas (beyond "don't make reckless use of box cutters," which they 
wouldn't do anyway), so I'm interested in any suggestions you can offer.
Thanks,
Andy
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Andrew Hart, Preservation Librarian
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
CB#3910, Davis Library
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
tel: (919) 962-8047
fax: (919) 962-4450
email: ashart@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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