Tip #27: Only you can prevent the gunking up of your tape player.

Oct 6

If archives were a superhero show, there would be a couple repeat villains. Mechanical damage, heat, light, and today's archnemesis: humidity. Humidity destroys information preserved on acetate film, turns certain kinds of leather into piles of red dust, and creates ideal conditions for mold.

In video cassettes (and other kinds of magnetic tapes), humidity causes sticky shed syndrome. As the name implies, this water absorption turns the coating of the tapes into a sticky goo that attaches itself to whatever it comes into contact with next. This includes, but is certainly not limited to, the tape player you were trying to play said tape on! Prevent the gunking up of your tape player and monitor your humidity.

For more on preserving audiovisual materials, stay tuned for our next archival tip! Can’t wait? Check out our AV preservation webinar on YouTube!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtxDC7SPgW4

#ArchivalTips #BacklogArchivists #Conservation #Preservation

Dmitri Schmidt

Dmitri plays a pivotal role in coordinating Backlog’s outreach efforts. They curate our weekly #FridayFinds and #ArchivalTips social media posts, shedding light on items discovered in our genealogy work and providing tips and tricks to approaching problems in the archives.

Dmitri holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and German Studies from Saint Louis University. During their university years, they dedicated over 1000 hours to interning and volunteering at local St. Louis institutions, including the St. Louis Science Center and the St. Louis University Museum of Art. As the Collections Intern at the Science Center, Dmitri assisted in developing and installing the "Into the Vault" exhibit.

Before joining Backlog, Dmitri served as a Fulbright Grantee, teaching English as a second language in former East Germany. From guiding 11th graders in analyzing pop albums as poetry to discussing the significance of the civil rights movement with 8th graders, they covered a broad spectrum of subjects. While reveling in connecting with students and injecting fun into grammar lessons, Dmitri's deep passion for all things archival eventually drew them back home.

Today, Dmitri works as a Herbarium Assistant at the Missouri Botanical Garden, helping digitize the millions of preserved plant specimens. After being scanned and transcribed, these images aid scholars around the globe in furthering botanical research. Dmitri also serves as the archivist for the Kirkwood Historical Society. They are currently overseeing the “Journeys into Kirkwood’s History” project, which aims to digitize documents related to Kirkwood’s early Black settlements.

Tip #27: Only you can prevent the gunking up of your tape player.

Tip #28: Optical media isn’t immune to the typical archival archnemeses.

Tip #26: Act as if magnetic tapes are temporary.

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