The Soaking Resistance of Electronic Storage Media

Abstract

AbstractIn a disaster event involving water, the length of time that collection materials remain wet is a critical factor in determining whether a successful recovery is possible. There is a substantial knowledge base for the water immersion resistance of traditional information carriers such as paper documents but not for electronic storage media. In this study, floppy diskettes, VHS videotapes, optical discs, and flash media, were immersed in different water baths for various time intervals. The baths consisted of two different sources of tap water, a more corrosive tap water solution, and artificial seawater. Most electronic media survived well in clean tap water but problems occurred with some CDs and VHS tapes. More damage became evident with electronic storage media when the immersion bath was more corrosive. For some media, such as optical discs, whether damage occurred was likely linked to the manufacturing quality of the media. Drying methods were also explored. Air-drying was determined to be the best method for recovering wet electronic storage media. Freeze-thaw-air drying and vacuum freeze-drying methods can destroy CDs and DVDs and should be avoided. If wet materials cannot be recovered and dried promptly, it was established that storage in cool water reduces deterioration significantly.