[alt-photo] Opinion on Conservation of negatives/plates needed.

[erie patsellis]

I posted this to the Betterlight mailing list and after thinking about 
it, there's more than a few conservationists here as well. I'm looking 
for any and all suggestions and ideas, short of my being independently 
wealthy and footing the bill (I'm not, likely never will be...)

Some Background:
I was contacted by a third party to scan some 8x10 glass plates and 
smaller negatives for a local historical society, and was given some 
samples of the images. Apparently they have at least 1,000 or more to 
print/digitize. (I will quite likely using a flatbed 
scanner,unfortunately) The glass plates are stored poorly and need, at 
the least, cleaning of the non emulsion side prior to scanning. So far 
no issues and well within my comfort zone. (though the plates will be 
returned in archival storage envelopes, instead of just stacked in a box 
with bond paper interleaving)

I open the box of 5x7 negatives and wouldn't you know it, that familiar 
smell, nitrate based negatives in the early stages of decomp. They 
haven't yellowed appreciably (yet) and my suggestion is that they dupe 
them and dispose of them properly.

Here's where things get sticky, I'm doing this at cost, literally and 
their attitude is that they don't care about the archival aspect, they 
just want 4x6 index prints of the negatives. As someone with more than a 
passing interest in conservancy and history, this rubs me the wrong way 
on  a number of fronts:

  * The sole purpose of their tax exempt status (as well as state and
    local funding and donations) is to preserve the history of the area.

  * While they may not care, making the decision for future
    generations is tenuous logic, at best in my view. Essentially,
    they would be getting the work done for free, only the cost of
    materials and one would think that as a not for profit they would
    appreciate the willingness for somebody to offer some assistance.

  * The images in question range (from what I could see) early 20th
    century to circa/post WWII and vary from historical buildings
    (many of which either don't exist or have changed greatly) to     
    nearly iconic images of the "war at home" aspects of life and have
    great historical significance, especially considering the
    predominantly rural area we are in and the lack of significant
    historical resources generally available.


We will be having a meeting with them again, within a week, but any 
suggestions as to a course of action? In my mind, duplication of all 
nitrate based images and proper disposal is paramount and primary to me, 
both from the issue of the nitric acid out gassing risking the entire 
collection of ephemera as well as all photographic images, to the more 
important safety aspect.

Suggestions are welcome, and if there is somebody in the area (central 
IL) that can offer an assessment or recommendations , I'd be interested 
to hear from them.


erie patsellis