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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for AnonymousCoward:

Here's why "baking" damaged reel-to-reel tapes renders them playable again:

Reel-to-reel tapes are experiencing a resurgence of interest among audio buffs, but they are prone to degradation, which has been a topic of active research for many years. It's well known that applying heat can often reverse the damage sufficiently to enable playback, usually by baking the tapes in an oven. Now scientists at the US Library of Congress [(LOC)] have determined precisely why this method seems to work, presenting their findings earlier this month on the American Chemical Society's SciMeetings online platform.

Project leader Andrew Davis is a polymer chemist who works in the LOC's preservation research and testing division. The LOC's mission is to ensure its collections continue to be accessible to the public, either in their original or reformatted mediums. The R&D division is responsible for providing the scientific groundwork for that mission, similar to how the Smithsonian Institute employs research scientists to maintain its collections.

"We span everything from simple analytical tests, like determining the kind of ink used on paper, to testing all building and construction materials, and ensuring the stickers on the barcodes don't damage books," Davis told Ars.

Davis emphasizes that the audiotape collection is well-maintained and tapes are not literally decaying on the shelves as I type; he works to ensure that they remain in good condition. While the LOC continues to digitize its vast collection, there is still a large number of tapes in the archives that are still in their original format. They are simply obscure enough that they might only be digitized if the LOC receives a request to listen to them.

Even for those with a digital copy, preserving the originals as long as possible is still important. "It's not impossible that the digitized version might disappear, might get corrupted, or might become inaccessible 10 to 20 years from now," Davis said. "If you have that physical object, that's always something you can come back and re-listen to, or reprocess, if the need arises."

Original Submission