I'll be honest, I'm struggling to find the reference now. I thought I read it here<https://cool.culturalheritage.org/byform/mailing-lists/arsclist/2009/05/msg00001.html> (ARSCLIST post from 2009), but I can't see any discussion of orientation there except the initial question. You can probably safely ignore my assertion here.

(That thread is also where I saw mention of removing the original cardboard container.)

That said, I imagine there might be some difference if the wire is partially unravelled, which quite a lot of ours are. We have one extreme case of a wire that is very unravelled (fortunately after digitization, I'm not sure at what point it became so unravelled), and I can imagine it being detrimental to any future salvage to put the weight of the vertical spool on the unravelled wire. Also, as the proposed microfilm packaging is larger than the wire recording and the wire has no original packaging (again, a few cases for us), transporting them vertically would lead to rolling, which in the case of partially unravelled wire would mean rolling over loose wire. This seems unnecessary to me, so if it made no difference otherwise, I would be happy to store them flat.

---
Paul Sutherland
Archivist at www.amphilsoc.org/library/CNAIR<http://www.amphilsoc.org/library/CNAIR>
Musician at www.hearlambeth.com<http://www.hearlambeth.com>
________________________________
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of CBAUDIO <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, November 12, 2022 02:20
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Wire recording archival housing vendor

Hi Paul,

I'm curious; Where did you come across the knowledge that wire
recordings should be stored flat? I wasn't aware that it could make a
difference. I was aware that motion picture film is to be stored flat
but wire recordings?

Best,
CB
Corey Bailey
www.baileyzone.net<http://www.baileyzone.net>

------ Original Message ------
From: "Paul Sutherland" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: 11/11/2022 6:46:32 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Wire recording archival housing vendor

>Thank you so much everybody!
>
>Based on the info so far, I think I may need to go with microfilm boxes. Unless someone is able to identify explicitly designed wire housing.
>
>Corey - I've read that removing the original cardboard boxes is best for long-term storage, but yes, there is much metadata on those that it would be useful to keep. If others think that it's actually okay to keep them in their original cardboard boxes, I would go with this. We also unfortunately don't yet have cold storage available for these but hopefully soon. Thanks also for the post about playing them.
>
>It's also my understanding that they should be stored flat (horizontally). I could stack microfilm reels like that in larger archival boxes.
>
>The Webster-Chicago boxes fit into a 16mm microfilm box. Silvertone ones (blue, round boxes) don't, so I would use 35mm microfilm boxes.
>
>I'd rather have individual housing than having to construct dividers, but that's definitely an option. A 7" or 10.5" reel-to-reel box would be quite economical though, divided up that's 4 or 9 spaces for 3.5"x3.5".
>
>Thanks for the reminder to tape the wire down too!
>
>Appreciate all the info so far.
>
>---
>Paul Sutherland
>Archivist at www.amphilsoc.org/library/CNAIR<http://www.amphilsoc.org/library/CNAIR><http://www.amphilsoc.org/library/CNAIR<http://www.amphilsoc.org/library/CNAIR>>
>Musician at www.hearlambeth.com<http://www.hearlambeth.com>
>________________________________
>From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Paul Jackson <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2022 18:10
>To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Wire recording archival housing vendor
>
>One place to check for such storage boxes would be Uline:
>https://catalog.uline.com/Fall-Winter-US-2022/82/#
>
>Another may be, University Products. They are very good for Museum
>storage materials. https://www.universityproducts.com/
>
>On 11/10/2022 9:43 AM, Lance Watsky wrote:
>> Hi Paul,
>>
>> Back when I worked at the State of Georgia Archives, we would get boxes and create dividers for delicate objects.
>>
>> You may want to contact Conversation Supply companies, like Gaylord.
>>
>> Best,
>> Lance
>>
>>
>> Lance Watsky
>>
>> Manager of Media Archives & Licensing
>> Sherman Grinberg Film Library
>> 21011 Itasca Street
>> Chatsworth, CA 91311
>> C: (909) 223-7941<tel:%28909%29%20223-7941>
>> E:[log in to unmask]
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List<[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Paul Sutherland<[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2022 7:52 AM
>> To:[log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
>> Subject: [ARSCLIST] Wire recording archival housing vendor
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> We have a number of wire recordings on original spools in original cardboard boxes, that we are looking to rehouse. They are standard commercial size (2.75" diameter, 0.6-ish" wide). Some are starting to unravel, though fortunately they were almost all already digitized. My main concern is giving them individual housing so the wires do not tangle with others.
>>
>> ARSC's guide (p64)<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.clir.org_wp-2Dcontent_uploads_sites_6_2015_05_ARSC-2Dw-2Dcover.pdf&d=DwIFAw&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=Kp4tmL90KaBMzYo2uBG6UY1FLVcV8J78ZNTo3170Ups&m=n2FQz1znjkBuCJuvfRFTUwlovOe4m0_Z1ytfGUrtjIQ&s=Tiixwv4G0iITLG38Pk71QHrl9YayXLWsnWjivbFtooI&e=> says they should be stored in acid-free boxes of the appropriate size, but I have not been able to find a vendor selling the right size - either labeled as for wire recordings or reel-to-reel audio tapes. I imagined I might find 3" reel-to-reel tape boxes at Hollinger or Gaylord, but they only go down to 7". The closest possibly suitable thing I can find is microfilm storage boxes, but those are also slightly bigger (3.75" diameter).
>>
>> Does anybody know of a vendor selling acid-free boxes for wire recordings? Or has anyone had success getting custom ones made, or using something of similar size?
>>
>> Thanks!
>> Paul
>>
>> ---
>> Paul Sutherland
>> Archivist athttps://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.amphilsoc.org_library_CNAIR&d=DwIFAw&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=Kp4tmL90KaBMzYo2uBG6UY1FLVcV8J78ZNTo3170Ups&m=n2FQz1znjkBuCJuvfRFTUwlovOe4m0_Z1ytfGUrtjIQ&s=K4yQ8LNzBK7HMrED2szW92aFTuYEYEtUrWJX8kotcwo&e=<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.amphilsoc.org_library_CNAIR&d=DwIFAw&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=Kp4tmL90KaBMzYo2uBG6UY1FLVcV8J78ZNTo3170Ups&m=n2FQz1znjkBuCJuvfRFTUwlovOe4m0_Z1ytfGUrtjIQ&s=K4yQ8LNzBK7HMrED2szW92aFTuYEYEtUrWJX8kotcwo&e=>
>> Musician athttps://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.hearlambeth.com&d=DwIFAw&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=Kp4tmL90KaBMzYo2uBG6UY1FLVcV8J78ZNTo3170Ups&m=n2FQz1znjkBuCJuvfRFTUwlovOe4m0_Z1ytfGUrtjIQ&s=iAow4vIf0Yo658iZ-0OWoROCEWYOvLOdqB_QbBC6jwE&e=<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.hearlambeth.com&d=DwIFAw&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=Kp4tmL90KaBMzYo2uBG6UY1FLVcV8J78ZNTo3170Ups&m=n2FQz1znjkBuCJuvfRFTUwlovOe4m0_Z1ytfGUrtjIQ&s=iAow4vIf0Yo658iZ-0OWoROCEWYOvLOdqB_QbBC6jwE&e=>