Re: CDs, was DATs, Was Re: arsclist Duplicating casette tapes

["Steve Green" <sgreen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message -----
From: Mike Richter <mrichter@xxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, August 09, 2002 2:54 PM
Subject: Re: CDs, was DATs, Was Re: arsclist Duplicating casette tapes


Mike Richter wrote:

> Anecdotal reports are not to be dismissed, but neither are they the basis
> for choosing an archival medium. For example, it is difficult to infer
> anything about UV exposure on this test since the sunlight passes through
> glass - essentially opaque to UV - before striking the disc. UV exposure
> has little relationship to the environment of an archive (storage or in
> use). Even the effect of heat is debatable: it will certainly accelerate
> decay, but I have found no data which would lead to quantifying
> acceleration of life test as a function of storage temperature.

I didn't intend to jump into the fray and still don't have time to pursue
this further, but I would like at least to disagree about the relevance of
UV and heat. I would have to say that regular window glass is not "opaque to
UV." One has only to walk past a bookstore window on Main Street and see all
the book jackets completely faded to realize the effect of sunlight on
printed materials. I'm not prepared to say how it might affect CD-R dyes.
The reason many archives don't have windows (or unshielded fluorescent
lights) is because of the effects of UV radiation on printed materials. I
have seen reel to reel tape boxes stored on shelves adjacent to a window and
the spine labeling was completely faded away (the tapes inside the boxes
played fine). There is much published data on the effects of heat (and
humidity) as it relates to the storage of paper and magnetic media. I can't
say off the top of my head whether the same data has been published for
CD-Rs but given that heat accelerates organic and chemical processes, cooler
just makes sense to me.

Cheers and thanks for the input,

Steve Green
Western Folklife Center

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