Pamela, I can't speak with any knowledge on the underground mine environment for paintings, sculptures or other items.  But in regard to films, audio-video tapes, it would be a preferable archival environment.  Key factors are control of dust (ventilation systems) which hold particles from human skin, mineral or plant material, smoke, grease from fingerprints, etc;  exposure to light & heat, and of couse, just the way they are stacked on the shelves.  Also, no paper should be stored in the box with the tape.

Underground mines would prove a stable archival environment for that particular media.

Terri Fiyalko
Newton-Bard


On Sunday, April 15, 2001, Pamela Sezgin <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Dear David and other listers:
>
>What do you think of the article in Sunday's New York Times about the
>Corbis/Bettman Archive relocating to a former mine, underground?
>Supposedly,  this environment will be better for conservation -- is that
>true? But there are questions of access and only a small percentage of the
>collection is digitized.
>
>Comments, ideas, reactions?
>
>pamela sezgin
>
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