U-matic tapes and sticky shed

Stories are reaching Europe of 10-12 years old U-matic tapes getting
sticky to the point where they become unplayable. Charles Babbage
Institute, running the Centre of History of Information Processing,
seems to have come across cassettes from 1981 that were playable in 1990
but that clog heads because of tape shed today. Does anyone have any
information on this or have you come across similar problems, I would
very much like to hear from you.

Here at the Media Laboratory, National Library of Norway, we will take a
look into our own U-matic collection immediately. I will keep you
informed.

lars gaustad
filmsoundvideo-dep
Media Laboratory
cum grano salis

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 7:83
                  Distributed: Wednesday, May 18, 1994
                        Message Id: cdl-7-83-004
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