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By
Gemma Perretta
As the collections grow at Northeast Historic Film,
our cold storage continues to provide the climate necessary
to stabilize historic media.
The rain poured down all spring
and temperatures reached the high 90s in July and August
– yet our vaults remain steady at 45° Fahrenheit
and 25% relative humidity.
According to the Image Permanence
Institute in Rochester, NY, this stable, cool, dry environment
is projected to extend the life of our acetate-based
film holdings by approximately 225 years, or three times
what film in excellent condition could possibly survive
in an average stable room-temperature climate.
Storage Space Rental & Services
During the past year we have welcomed several
new public and private organizations and individuals
as vault rental clients for their film and video collections.
In addition to providing cold
storage we have helped some clients identify films that
have vinegar syndrome, a beginning stage of decomposition
that can be contagious to other acetate based films.
Vinegar syndrome requires immediate attention to ensure
the content is not lost. We handle film with vinegar
syndrome by inserting desiccants into the cans to absorb
the acetic gases being released by the film, wrapping
them in inert plastic bags to contain the gasses, and
isolating them in a separate cold storage vault dedicated
to material with vinegar syndrome.
There is still plenty of room
in the vaults for additional space rental. We encourage
organizations to contact us if they have any questions
about how to care for their media holdings.  |
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