glass lantern slide packing/transportation suggestions

[Patti Gibbons <pgibbons@uchicago.edu>]

Hello,

I am preparing to move a collection of about 5,000 glass lantern slides
from an off-site storage facility that is about 200 miles away and am
looking for packing and transportation suggestions that will help prevent
physical damage during transport. Some slides are currently inside old
fashion lantern slide cabinetry (narrow drawers with dividers) and some
are simply stacked in piles. 

Ideally I'd like to hire art packers and shippers, but the budget won't
allow on this project. It looks like we will be packing and shipping
ourselves. I'm planning to transport the collection on land (we hope to
rent a moving truck with air ride suspension).

My initial thoughts about packing are to sleeve the negatives and then
pack them into archival boxes such as those available at the links below.
Then pack the negative storage boxes inside larger packing containers
with padding.

Talas sells lantern slide boxes with dividers:
http://apps.webcreate.com/ecom/catalog/product_specific.cfm?ClientID=15&ProductID=20794

Gaylord sells a lantern slide box without dividers. Would anyone
caution against this mode of packing?
http://www.gaylordmart.com/adblock.asp?abid=1204&sid=E0AFC9B73359471289947D37D19CCB&search_by=desc&search_for=negative%20box

I would be interested in advice anyone has for moving glass lantern
slides, or any feedback on using the products above. Thanks in advance
for your help!

Patti

Patti Gibbons
Preservation Manager
Special Collections Research Center
University of Chicago Library
1100 East 57th Street 
Chicago, IL 60637
t (773) 702-6027, f (773) 702-3728
pgibbons@uchicago.edu