Rachel,
If the images are not turning to goo, I wouldn't destroy them.  Freezing is
the best method for long term storage of nitrate film.  I suggest you
digitize them to the best of your ability and then pop them in the
freezer....be sure to check out proper storage techniques for freezing negs.

Good luck!

Jill M Koelling
Curator of Visual Materials
Northern Arizona University

(Iris)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rachel Hawthorn" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2004 7:55 PM
Subject: Identification and storage of nitrate negatives


> Hello all,
> bear with me, I seem to ask this list a lot of questions, and never have
> answers to offer, but I'm still learning...
> Anyway, today I found a large box of images in the vault, and what appears
> to be an envelope of nitrate negatives. How do I positively identify these
> as nitrates?
>
> Also, in my past internships at the Colorado Historical Society, I know we
> isolated nitrates to the best of our ability due to their fragility and
> combustible nature. However, all I ever did was hand them over and say "I
> think these are nitrate" and they would go away. Now that I am the one to
> whom people are turning to for answers....I don't have any! Eeeek!!
>
> So, what is the proper storage of nitrate negatives?? Should we just
> digitize them and then dispose of them? Some of them are pretty far gone,
> with nothing more than a faint yellow-green trace of an image left...
>
> Thanks!
>
> Rachel Hawthorn
> Museum Intern
> Historic Society of Idaho Springs
>
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