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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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