Possible Videotape Rescue Project

[Steve White]

Greetings, and my very best wishes to everyone for a terrific New Year!

I have a lead on dozens of reels of recorded videotape that has been in 
storage for a couple of decades. Some were recorded in the 70s.  Some in 
the 80s. I understand that the reels are stored individually in their 
original cardboard boxes.  They may have been in several locations 
during their history.  I don't know much about conditions in their 
current location, other than they are in the basement of a relatively 
modern building.

The goal is to rescue program material deemed worthy (whatever that is 
determined to be) from those tapes that have survived.  I have two 
rather open-ended questions:

    - When I start opening boxes, what conditions and characteristics
    should I be looking for? I will not have the ability to load them
    onto a machine (nor would I feel competent to do so), but, merely to
    inspect them visually.

    - What steps, if any, should I take to stop any further
    deterioration until we can sort through them and get them to an
    expert later this year?  For example, should they all be opened and
    left out in what is probably a dryer location? Should they be
    re-packed into individual plastic bags?  etc.


And now, for the rest of the story:  the tapes are 1" and were recorded 
on IVC-860 machines.  The tape is likely a mix from several manufacturers.

Thanks,
Steve






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