Videotape has a much shorter life span than most people know. In fact, a videotape that is over 15 years old almost certainly needs careful attention, and most tapes over 20 years old need professional help. If your collection consists mostly of professional productions or films that are still in print, the least expensive protection is usually purchasing another copy. For a locally produced, old, or out of print videotape, proper care is the only way to guarantee the ability to view the tape in the future.
The following recommendations for the storage and preservation of videotape are a combination of manufacturers' recommendations, experience with old and obsolete tapes, and good common sense.
Keep videotape cool and dry... and away from curious fingers
You are better off keeping the tape in a place which has constant temperature and humidity than in a cooler place with lots of traffic. Tapes left for the curious to handle WILL be destroyed, it is only a matter of time.
Keep videotape clean, out of the light, and away from strong magnetic fields.
It may seem obvious, but then again do YOU store any of your video tapes at home on top of the TV? Dirt, humidity, and heat are the main enemies of videotape and can make the tapes impossible to play back in very short periods of time.
Protect your tapes from physical damage
Cardboard sleeves provide little protection for either the cassette or the tape inside. Often these cases are made of materials that deteriorate over time. Protect your investment with a higher quality case such as those used in video stores. These cases are inexpensive, reusable, and will last many years.
Always label your tapes.
Unless a tape is properly labelled, the only way to know the content is to play the tape, and if the tape cannot be played back without restoration, how do you know whether the contents are valuable enough to justify restoration cost?
Give your tapes some "exercise"
Tapes need to be fast forwarded and rewound periodically. The recommended interval for doing this varies according to temperature and humidity, but a good rule of thumb for normal air conditioned environments is every 6 months to 1 year.
It is also a good policy never to leave a tape stopped in the middle of the cassette. Always rewind the tape fully.
When in doubt, make a copy.
If you only have one copy of a tape, NEVER lend that copy. Copies are inexpensive to make and are your only absolute protection against the loss of the program. Often lost information on damaged tapes can be professionally recovered if you have made copies, even if the quality is lower. Ideally keep copies in different places, and make copies at different times so that they do not all age together.
Make sure the machine works BEFORE you insert a tape.
The biggest cause of damage to tapes is machines in bad condition. If you are uncertain about a machine's condition, insert a tape that is not valuable to ascertain that condition. If a tape is damaged, do not insert it into a videotape recorder, the tape may damage the machine.
Know when your tapes need professional help.
Damage to a tape that is caused by well meaning people "trying to help" may be permanent. It may be wise to seek help from a professional organisation such as the National Film and Sound Archive.
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