Mitch,

I think the general consensus in the media world is to use the 
acrylic jewel boxes that were designed from Day One to be the best 
protection for CDs available (within reason).

The key attributes are:
--lightly hold the centre - too much force may start delamination of DVDs
   and/or cause radial cracking in the CD
--provide edge support so that the read face of the CD/DVD floats 
above the insert.
--protect the disc from dust and fingerprints

There are 2-disc cases that are the same thickness as a single-disc 
one that still meet (or come close to meeting) these requirements. I 
use those for audio transfers of tapes longer than 74 minutes where 
two discs are required.

Newly on the market, Stil Designs in Quebec has a polypropylene CD 
case,  but make sure the hole plugs are available, otherwise the case 
will "breathe" dust with each access to the disc. Their latch 
mechanism is very good and they don't crack in the mail like the acrylic boxes.

http://www.stildesign.com/STil/index_e.aspx?DetailID=67

I don't have any connection with Stil Design other than they have 
sent me some samples. Their case is more expensive than the standard 
acrylic case, and there are no duals, but if I were looking to 
rehouse an archive I would certainly consider the Stil cases.

In any event, I wouldn't use sleeves or cardboard that actually 
touched either surface. As I'm sure you're aware, the label surface 
of a CD is as fragile or more so as it is easy to damage the 
reflective layer which is only protected by the print/lacquer coating.

Cheers,

Richard

At 11:46 AM 6/6/2006, Mitch Brown wrote:
>I am currently working on a collection that has CD Roms in it.  They 
>are in various cases (cardboard, plastic).  I have a fairly simple 
>question (I think).  Is it preferable to keep the media inside the 
>case it comes in or should I take them out and put them into CD 
>sleeves?  Will the acids in the cardboard and anything else 
>negatively affect the integrity of the media?
>
>Also, are there good white papers on this subject?

Richard L. Hess                   email: [log in to unmask]
Aurora, Ontario, Canada       (905) 713 6733     1-877-TAPE-FIX
Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes. 

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