Hi Daniel,

The only thing I can add to what Richard Hess said is that these discs that 
you have are called acetates. Unlike regular LPs, these are made of a thin 
layer of metal coated by lacquer. They weren’t designed for multiple use, 
and they’ll literally deteriorate a little bit each time you play them.

The best advice would be to have someone transfer them to high quality tape, 
analog or digital. Leave all the concerns about what kind of needle to use 
to them. The tapes are what should be played and used for reference.

The less handling you give them, the better. Do NOTuse a regular cleaning 
brush on them at all! As far as preservation goes, there’s unfortunately 
very little, if anything, that can be done to preserve them for the long 
haul. Acetates weren’t designed to last anywhere near as long as standard 
LPs, and they’re very susceptible to humidity in addition to physical 
handling, so to some extent time is working against you on these.

There’s a digital restoration process called No Noise Solution Systems, 
which assigns a wavelength to every frequency in the recording, then allows 
you to alter or remove any that you wish. It’s what a lot of record 
companies use when the only recording available is a 78 (say, a Charlie 
Parker or old blues recording). This process allows for “pops” and “clicks” 
to be completely removed, with only a minimum of music (or whatever) being 
compromised. I could be wrong, but I believe this to be a rather expensive 
process.

On the more positive side of things, the fact that they’re “Radio Reference 
Recordings” would suggest that the material on them is unique, and may very 
well only exist on the discs that you have.

Good luck!

Hathaway


Hathaway Hester
MLIS student, Dominican University

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org.
For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp.

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>