[NHCOLL-L:2568] Archiving slides

[Alexandra M. Snyder]

Thanks to all of you who kindly responded to my request for information on 
appropriate methods of slide storage.  Below, I have copied the responses 
for those who may be interested to learn what I learned.

Lex
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Hello,
Archival quality slide sleeves and cool temperatures are the best way to 
go. You may want to check out Light Impressions, a supply house (formerly 
in Rochester NY, now in California) for their exclusive line of 
photoarchival products, especially to compare pricing and product specs. 
They will also help you with free advice over the phone, or custom-make 
products for your specific needs. I'm sure you'll find them on the Web. I 
dealt with them for our photoarchives preservation grant, found their 
products to be first-rate. They also have acid-free binders if you choose 
to house your sleeves in these for ease of retrieval. Best of luck with 
your project; the collection sounds like a great resource.

Marilyn Massaro
Curator
Museum of Natural History
Providence RI
28 Feb 2005
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Lex,
The pocket pages have the big advantage that you can see the slides
easily without having to handle them much.  The disadvantages, other than 
the RH issue which you addressed, are that the plastic pockets can trap 
air-borne particulate contaminates next to the slides, and the slides and 
mounts can be abraded as they are removed and re-inserted into the pockets.

If you wish to verify that the plastic is safe, you can (1) buy from a 
reputable dealer such as Light Impressions, Gaylord, or University 
Products; (2) smell the plastic (it should have no odor); or (3) use the 
Beilstein test for chlorides in plastics.  This will not tell you if the 
plastic is safe, but it will tell you if it contains chlorides (PVC is the 
most common "bad" plastic used for these things).  Get a piece of copper 
wire about 12 inches long.  Strip a few inches of insulation off one end 
and stick the wire in a Bunsen burner or alcohol lamp.  Get it really hot. 
Touch the plastic (which melts some on to the wire).  In a dark room, stick 
it back in the flame.  A small green area will appear in the flame if the 
plastic contains chlorides.

Personally, I prefer storing slides in metal drawers with a powder-coat 
finish.  This avoids the problems of trapping RH and contaminates, but 
means more handling of the slides.  But these drawers are expensive.

The solution I use with my personal slide collection (because I can't 
afford metal drawers or the space to house them in sleeves) is the 
acid-free storage boxes sold by Light Impressions (I use a file similar to 
their #9580).  The acid-free board has roughly the same advantages and 
disadvantages as the metal drawers (see Light Impressions #2674).

Finally, the decision you make should be based in part on the
anticipated use of the collection.  Heavy use might argue in favor of the 
plastic sleeves, lighter use might argue in favor of metal or acid-free 
board containers.

Hope this helps.

--John Simmons, Kansas University, Lawrence
28 Feb 2005

Alexandra:
While not an archivist, I have maintained slide files with over 25,000 
slides.  The archival slide pages you mention do appear to be of archival 
quality.  As you probably know, different manufacturers of slides have 
different life expectancies.  Kodak kodachromes are probably the best -- 
I'm sure there is a publication somewhere that talkes about this.  However, 
even the poorest archival slides are probably better in the long-run than 
the digital images.  I worry about digital images degrading electronically, 
or if no one uses them, getting to a point where their format or storage 
format can no longer be read by newer technology.  This needs to be 
considered, and is a good reason for saving the original slides!

Bob

28 Feb 2005
Robert C. Glotzhober
Curator, Natural History		Phone  614/ 297-2633
Ohio Historical Society		Fax   614/ 297-2233
1982 Velma Avenue			E-mail   bglotzhober at ohiohistory.org
Columbus, Ohio  43211-2497

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Hi Alexandra,

I am the Conservator at the Science Museum of Minnesota,  What you propose, 
is not so different than the systems I use. The thing to verify with the 
manufacturer is the plastic -- no PVC (poly vinyl chloride) -- The best is 
polypropylene, the next best is polyethylene. Also check the storage you 
are keeping the slide sheets in -- if you are using the common 3 ring 
binder (made of PVC) you should probably upgrade to an archival binder.

Good luck!
Gretchen Anderson
Conservator
Science Museum of Minnesota
120 West Kellogg Ave
St Paul, MN 55102
651-221-4764
ganderson at smm.org
www.smm.org

28 Feb 2005
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Dr. Richard Rosenblatt forwarded your message to me, as I am the archivist 
of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.  You can certainly keep your 
slides in archival quality mylar sheets, which are quite convenient as you 
can see the slides through the sleeves.  This cuts down on damage to the 
slides when they are handled by many people.   However, archivists still 
recommend steel slide cases for storage of 35mm slides with long term 
historical value.  Scripps Archives keeps slides in cabinets manufactured 
by Neumade of Newtown, Connecticut.  These are available through a number 
of distributors listed on the Internet.

A lot of American archivists use the sleeves for collection awaiting 
cataloging and digitization.  After they are cataloged and/or digitized, 
they are transferred to steel slide cases.  Best wishes, Deborah Day.

Deborah Day
Archivist
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
University of California, San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093-0219 USA
tel: (858) 534-4878
fax: 858 534 5269
web: http://scrippsarchives.ucsd.edu/

28 Feb 2005
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Alexandra M. Snyder, Collections Manager
Division of Fishes  MSC03-2020
Museum of Southwestern Biology CERIA 83
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131 USA
PH/Fax 505.277.6005
Alexandra.Snyder at msb.unm.edu