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Folks, We recently received a donated collection of oral history recordings on cassette, done mostly in the mid-1980s. After giving the lot a once-over, I discovered that the felt pressure pads on a number of the tapes have wholly or partially rotted out. With these recordings, I've simply been transferring the tapes into new cassette housings. However, disassembly of the problem housings and general processing of the collection has revealed additional issues--rusted housing screws, oxidation on metal parts, the fact that they arrived in a cardboard box full of dead bugs and dirt, that most didn't have cases, etc.--that reinforce what I suspected about their storage environment and cause greater concern about the overall condition of the collection. I'm looking for feedback in a few areas. 1) Since so many of these tapes have obvious problems (such as the above mentioned rotting pressure pads) that need to be dealt with before they can be played, does it make sense to open up and inspect all the housings--even those that do not show strong outward signs of problems--and transfer tapes where obvious rust and other moisture related problems with the housing are found, or is it better to leave the tapes that are in functional but afflicted housings in their original containers? 2) What impact will putting tapes into new housing with different sized pressure pads have on playback? With at least one example, a tape has an intact (in this case meaning "non-rotted") felt, but the adhesive is loose. If the difference in pressure pad size between the original housing and the new housing would cause playback problems, I could pull a copy off the tape with it in this housing and then transfer the tape to a new one afterward. I'm sure the problems with these recordings go beyond just moisture related issues to the housings. Although none of the tapes I've inspected seem to be sticky, I'm sure the tape itself has suffered from 20 years in an attic/basement/porch/shower stall/barn/car trunk. And judging by what I've heard already, the source recordings were pretty bad to begin with. One of the joys of the profession. Thanks, as always-- andy ********************************* Andy Kolovos Archivist/Folklorist Vermont Folklife Center P.O. Box 442 Middlebury, VT 05753 (802) 388-4964 [log in to unmask] http://www.vermontfolklifecenter.org