Chris, I'm not an expert on magnetic tapes, but I have heard reliable warnings that the home baking idea may cause genuinely irreversible damage to your tapes. There has been much discussion of this subject in the Conservation Distribution List maintained by Walter Henry at Stanford University. I can review that discussion via the CoOL Data Base through the path: Gopher/Other Gopher and Info Servers/WAIS-based Info/alphabetical list/C/CoOL. You can tell my lack of sophistication about the Internet, but if you can get to a WAIS-based server you can reach CoOL. Search magnetic or sticky on CoOL or CoOL-cfl. E-Mailed documentation is available from Walter Henry via <[log in to unmask]>. Your warning that the life-expectancy of tapes (computer and video as well as audio) is well placed, but the 15-year life expectancy is only approximate. Life expectancy can be significantly reduced or extended by the temperature and relative humidity of storage, and by whether the tape is actually played. Low temps and RH, with no play, extend LE. Many sound archives recommend reel-to-reel format for long-term preservation, partly because cassettes are vulnerable to mechanical stresses. I have been warned against DAT for preservation because the tape is exceptionally thin; there may be other vulnerabilities in this medium as well. A commercial user recently told me he'd experienced a 20% loss of data on DAT over 4 years (private communication). The best strategy for preserving your tapes, even at home, is to keep them in moderate conditions (cool, controlled humidity, away from dust and pollutants); to sample them periodically for indications of loss and to copy immediately if deterioration is found; to copy important tapes even in the absence of obvious damage on a cycle like your recommended 10-15 years; and to handle them carefully. Baking should be a last and desperate resource. _________________________________ Karen Motylewski 508-470-1010 Northeast Document Conservation Center 508-475-6021 fax 100 Brickstone Square <[log in to unmask]> Andover, MA 01810 Use KM in subject field