General Care
- Wash and thoroughly dry hands before handling A/V materials
- Store and handle materials in a clean environment
- Keep food and drink away
- Do not touch playing surface(s)
- Keep playback equipment clean and well maintained
- Allow materials from cool storage to acclimate to room temperature before playing back
Discs
- Handle grooved discs (78s, 45s, LPs, lacquer discs) by the edge and label areas only
- Handle optical discs (CDs, DVDs) by the edge and center hole only
Cassettes, Audio, and Video
- Handle by the edge of the plastic or metal reel (the flanges) and center hub only
- Do not squeeze the flanges together, which will crush the tape pack in between
Cylinders
- Hold with middle and index fingers, open to a V shape, in the cylinder
- Do not touch the playing surface of the cylinder
- Allow wax cylinders from cool storage to acclimate to room temperature before touching
Storage
General
- Store all formats upright: discs and reels on edge; cassettes on long edge; cylinders standing on end
- Ensure shelving is sturdy enough to support the heft and weight concentration of these materials (e.g., grooved discs average 35+ pounds per shelf-foot; all formats concentrate weight on the centerline of a shelf, which can cause some shelving to collapse)
- Store grooved discs on shelves with sturdy, immovable dividers every 4-6 inches that support the entire face of the disc in its sleeve
- Do not store grooved discs of different diameters together
- Store 10″ reels in boxes with supports for the hub so that the entire weight of the reel is not on the reel edge
- Store played tapes without rewinding; rewind just before playing
Environment
- For home collections, a cool (room temperature or below), relatively dry (about 35-40% relative humidity), clean, and stable environment (avoid attics, basements, and other locations with a high risk of leaks and environmental extremes)
- Minimal exposure to all kinds of light; no exposure to direct or intense light
- Minimal exposure to strong magnetic fields
- Distance from radiators and vents
- Distance from sources of vibration
- Do not store magnetic tape below 46° F
Packaging and Storage Containers
- Grooved Discs: When possible, replace record sleeves with a high-density polyethylene sleeve (e.g., DiscWasher V.R.P., Mobile Fidelity Original Master Sleeve, Nagaoka No. 102 Anti-Static Record Sleeve); the Nagaoka sleeves can fit inside paper sleeves when an original paper sleeve needs to be retained
- Open Reel Tape: Store tape on reels with unslotted hubs
- Optical Discs: Can use jewel cases; replacement cases should also secure the disc by the center hub
- Storage boxes should be made of acid- and lignin-free paper stock; avoid storage containers that retain a static charge