-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        aerial photo storage
Date:   Tue, 27 Apr 2010 08:19:55 -0600
From:   Christopher Thiry <[log in to unmask]>
To:     [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>



All,

my apologies in advance for asking a question that has been answered
several times here.

We are going to move our air photos (9 x 9) from a locked room to
shelves in the Map Room.  Currently, most of the photos are stored in 10
x 10 boxes that, I believe, originally contained the undeveloped
photographic paper.  These boxes work well; while they are not
"archival" they also are not destroying the pictures.  However, I do not
have enough of those boxes.

So what would you recommend I store the photos in?  File cabinets are
not an option because I need to put the photos on shelves.  I have
considered getting acid-free, accordion envelopes that have a flip-top.
However, the envelopes are buffered--great for books, bad for photos.
The buffer interacts with the chemicals in the photos and will bleed the
photos to death in about 5 years.

Hollinger makes boxes that are chemically stable and specially tested on
photos.  Problem with these boxes are that a) they are $10 (even if you
buy in bulk), and b) if they are not full, the photos tend to flop over
and curl.  One way to counter the curling problem is to use some
chemically stable "cardboard" to fill the boxes, but to make the stuff
fit will be labor intensive.  An alterative is to buy some bubble wrap
and stick a sheet in the box to fill it.

I have thought of archival sleeves for each photo but I have 1000s of
photos to store.

What have all-ya'll done?  I am looking for a $0.10 to a $100 problem.

my thanks in advance,

Christopher J.J. Thiry
Map Librarian
Colorado School of Mines
1400 Illinois
Golden, CO 80401
p. 303-273-3697
f. 303-273-3199
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http://library.mines.edu/