I'm posting this message for an Archivist friend:

Question: Nowadays, many of our important records are only available to
us online. Has anyone seen anything written about the longevity of
materials printed out from laser printers? The materials are in color,
so ideally I would like to print them out on the color laser printer.
But the question remains, how long will the color ink last? Would it be
better to make a copy in black and white? I can use acid free paper to
print out on, but will that make a difference?  I am most concerned
about the ink. I have heard about taking a piece of tape,placing it over
the ink, then quickly removing it. If any of the ink comes off, then you
know it isn't very stable and not going to last too long.  The only
thing I can say for this is that the paper record I print off will last
a heck of a lot longer than the electronic record floating in cyber
space.


Jennifer Carroll-Plante
Curator of Collections
Canterbury Shaker Village
Canterbury, New Hampshire 03224
www.shakers.org
603/783-9511 x 241
fax- 603/783-9152
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