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National Library of Australia
Acetate project half yearly summary report -
January 2002
Introduction
The "National Library Strategy for Dealing with
Cellulose Acetate in the Collection" was formally adopted by the Library's
Collection Development and Management Committee (CDMC) in July 2001. It calls
for the location, assessment, rehousing, cold storage and prioritisation for
duplication of the Library's collections on cellulose acetate. For the Library
this includes mostly items such as photographic negatives and microfilm. Any
material on the older cellulose nitrate (which is now known to be highly
flammable and a fire hazard) is also to be relocated into cold storage at the
Mitchell nitrate store. This short report aims to give a brief overview of what
has been achieved to date.
Implementation - early stages
Implementation of the strategy commenced in
July 2001. The initial focus is on Pictorial collection material, as Pictorial
is expected to have the bulk of the Library's collections on cellulose acetate,
primarily in the form of photographic negatives and slides. Pictorial staff
provided a list of high priority known collections containing negatives as a
starting point. In addition, Preservation Services carried out a detailed
survey of the remaining Pictorial photographic collections in order to locate
any uncatalogued negative materials and to determine the amount of material to
be processed.
What has been achieved so far
All cellulose acetate material in the
abovementioned known high priority collections, consisting of a total of 7,583
negatives and 570 roll films (mostly 35 mm roll film) has been rehoused and
relocated to cold storage. A significant amount of cellulose nitrate 2,616
negatives and 139 roll films, has been sent to cold storage at the Mitchell
nitrate store. This nitrate material was not identified in the previous nitrate
survey and rehousing project.
The survey of the Hurley Stack in Pictorial is
complete, and an estimated total number of negatives and film remaining to be
assessed/ relocated was identified. In addition any obvious sign of
deterioration was noted. Each drawer and box in the Hurley Stack was opened and
checked for cellulose acetate based materials. In total, it is estimated that
there are about 27,000 negatives and 950 roll films on cellulose acetate and/or
nitrate in addition to the above mentioned high priority collections which had
already been processed by the time the survey was carried out. Some of these
negatives exhibit the characteristic vinegary smell of actively deteriorating
cellulose acetate.
The next priority was to focus on the largest
of the actively deteriorating collections consisting of 1,970 negatives. 318 or
16% of this collection was found to be actively deteriorating and very smelly.
As expected it was found that deterioration had occurred in clusters throughout
this collection, confirming the generally held belief that deteriorating
negatives 'infect' adjacent negatives by initiating and accelerating
deterioration processes. In total over the last 6 months, we have relocated
14,007 negatives and 570 roll films. Of these, 2,616 negatives and 136 roll
films were found to be on cellulose nitrate. Material significantly
deteriorated 1 includes 367 acetate and 15 nitrate
negatives.
Preservation Services has been working with
staff from Manuscripts and Maps to identify the location of negative/film
material in their collections. Manuscripts staff have undertaken a survey based
on searching their electronic resources for keywords such as slide, negative,
film and x-ray. They have identified 140 collections which are likely to
contain material on cellulose acetate. To date, the quantity and condition of
this material is unknown. Maps also have negative/film material and Maps staff
have been briefed on identification of cellulose acetate in their collection.
They are currently in the process of identifying acetate as part of their
routine work.
Factors impacting on the relocation
process
Some collections are quicker and easier to
process than others. Factors which impact on the speed with which a collection
can be relocated include:
- Whether the material is internally consistent, eg all
acetate, or all nitrate. This reduces the amount of testing and record keeping
that has to be carried out.
- Whether material is actively deteriorating. This then
requires separation of deteriorated negatives from negatives in good condition,
and more record keeping.
- Whether the subject matter is similar or widely diverse.
For curatorial reasons we are taking notes regarding the subject matter of the
images we rehouse and relocate.
- Whether or not the material is already numbered, or
whether new numbers have to be assigned.
- Whether or not any existing numbers are already written
directly onto the material, or whether they have to be transcribed from
existing housing materials.
- In the case of roll films, whether or not the films need
treatment such as flattening, cutting, and/or removal of sticky tape residues
before they can be rehoused.
- Whether the collection is entire. In some instances
additional collection material has been found in another location and this has
had to be integrated.
The processing of uncatalogued material at
times requires significant input from collection area staff in order to
determine provenance, significance, potential level of use, and whether or not
there may be associated material in uncatalogued parts of the collection. This
can at times put pressure on the limited resources in collection areas and lead
to delays. However, we have developed processes and good working relations to
minimise potential inefficiencies and delays.
What remains to be done
It was conservatively estimated that a minimum
23,000 negatives and 860 35mm films in the Pictorial collection remain to be
assessed. However as work continues in January, it has become apparent that
this is an underestimate. At this stage Pictorial collection colour slides have
not been assessed using AD strips. This material is in good condition and is
housed in the cold store. Other Pictorial reference slide material not part of
the collection remains in the Pictorial collection area and a decision needs to
be made about the importance of this material and what to do with it. The total
amount of material yet to be processed could well exceed the 23,000 estimated
above. It is estimated that processing the Pictorial acetate collections
(excluding colour slides) will take a minimum of an additional twelve months to
complete with current resources. Priority is being given to processing
collections showing obvious and significant signs of deterioration.
Summary
Over the last 6 months the project team has:
- Rehoused and relocated 14,007 negatives and 570 35mm roll
films
- Numbered negatives where necessary, and taken detailed
notes regarding the nature of the base, the condition, and the subject matter.
- Surveyed the Pictorial photographic collections in some
detail, noting the location of cellulose acetate based materials, approximate
numbers of negatives and/or films, and whether signs of deterioration were
present.
- Initiated the collection of information in other
collection areas regarding the possible location of cellulose acetate based
materials.
- Established effective processes and procedures for
communication, cooperation and reporting of relevant information.
To date project staffing resources have been a
mix of part time contract APS2, part time APS4 staff on HDA and part time staff
input at APS2. A total of 36 full time equivalent weeks work has been input to
this project to end December 2001.
At a minimum, an additional 12 months work with
current resources is required to complete the Pictorial acetate project to
process 23,000 plus negatives and 860 35mm roll films. A one off forward
estimate bid for FY 2002/2003 for resources to continue the acetate project was
not successful, however it is understood that some divisional resources may be
available to continue this work in 2002/03.
(1) Assessing
the degree of deterioration of nitrate negatives is somewhat subjective as we
cannot use tools developed for cellulose acetate such as acid-detection strips.
We only considered nitrate negatives to be deteriorated when they had become
significantly discoloured and/or sticky.
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