Re: [ARSCLIST] Audio Material Assessment Survey

[Rod Stephens <savecal@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello Allison,

I would guess that when you say "slotted reels" you mean that the reels
are of the plastic or metal variety that have slots in the inner hub in
which to thread the head or tail of the 1/4" tapes.  On all of the reel
to reel tapes that I work on, I play them forward onto their final reel,
leaving them tails out.  If they come to me heads out on the reel, I
wind them onto a second reel, so they can be stored tails out.  Most
experts feel this is the best way to store them.

Of course, this is based on mono or two track tapes that play in only
one direction; this would not be the case for four track stereo tapes
that play back in two directions.  Those, of course, you would play
forward to one end, and then, play them from the tail to the head to
hear the material recorded in the other direction.  And, even then, they
should end up smoothly wound unless there is something wrong with the
tape machine guides or you have a warped reel which rubs on the edge of
the tape as it is wound.

Normally, with the above full track tapes, you will generally get an
uneven wind if you manually rewind them unless the tape guides feed the
tape back smoothly (some decks do this better than others).

The playing of the tapes shouldn't hurt them unless you see overly large
amounts of oxide shedding.  I've found that good quality tapes recorded
in the '50's play back beautifully, over and over.

Hope this is of help.

Rod Stephens
Family Theater Productions

Allison Feist wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I am a graduate student in library science working on a
> project to assess an audio visual collection. I have started
> testing the audio portion of my survey on open reels. The plan
> had been to test the playback condition of the tapes along
> with a visual assessment.
>
> Thus far the tapes I have worked on have all been in slotted
> reels. When I have gone to play them back and then rewind I
> find that the wind becomes very uneven. Is this symptomatic of
> the player I am using - the speed (some of these played at 7.5
> IPS and others at 3.75 IPS.)  It is also unlikely that any of
> these tapes have ever been exercised.
>
> Is the damage I might be causing worth the benefits of
> playback testing? (Keep in mind this project currently has no
> budget so I don't think I have access to new hubs.) If anyone
> has performed an assessment survey I would love to be able to
> contact you off list.
>
> Thanks!
> Allison Feist
>
> PS - I cannot find information on "Tenzar" a material used my
> Scotch 3M.I assume that it is a proprietary plastic; am I correct?
> ___________________________
> ______________________________________
> Allison Feist, Graduate Assistant
> Modern Languages & Linguistics Library
> 439 Library
> 1408 W. Gregory Drive
> Urbana, IL 61801