Packing and Shipping Audio Media

Relocation notice: NEDCC has moved to a new facility at 600 Federal Street, Suite 100-S, Andover, MA 01810-1065.

Transporting Objects to NEDCC

Even under the best circumstances, shipping audio carriers involves some risk. Packing the objects securely and choosing appropriate shipping services will help ensure that your collection arrives here safely. Whenever practical, we encourage clients to bring their objects to NEDCC in person, so that handling is not left to a third party. 

Below is a description of courier services, shippers, and packing instructions for a variety of materials. In addition, NEDCC recommends the following:

• Follow the packing instructions below. Pack objects securely and hand-deliver objects if possible. Use a commercial shipper to transport materials only when necessary.
• Packing materials need not be archival quality (pH-neutral) if they are not in direct contact with the objects. Specific materials for inner and outer wrapping and packaging are described below.
• Ship on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday to decrease the risk of a weekend-layover in a warehouse. If possible, do not ship over major holidays or during periods of extremely cold, humid, or stormy weather.
• Please enclose a packing list of all objects as well as your name, mailing address, phone number, email address and any special instructions. See: Client Inventory Form.

Address your shipment as follows, and include your own return shipping address:

NEDCC
Attn: Registrar
600 Federal Street
Suite 100-S
Andover, MA 01810-1065

Call NEDCC if you have questions, especially if the stability of the objects is an issue: (978) 470-1010.

Courier Services

NEDCC offers courier services on a negotiated basis for clients in the northeast corridor of the US. Learn More about NEDCC’s Courier Services.

Commercial Shippers

Fine Arts Shippers: These companies offer door-to-door trucking with special handling for valuable or irreplaceable objects, and most offer packing and crating services. Fine arts shippers are very reliable and usually expensive. Companies can be found through a web browser search, the yellow pages, or a recommendation from your local art museum.

UPS and FedEx: These carriers can provide a cost-effective solution when you cannot visit NEDCC in person or when a fine arts shipping provider is unnecessary. UPS and FedEx may set limits on the amount of insurance they will provide for certain types of materials including artwork.

• FedEx limits each package to 150 lbs. maximum and a combined 165 inches (length + 2 times width + 2 times depth). Maximum length is limited to 119 inches.
• UPS limits each package to 150 lbs. maximum and a combined 165 inches (length + 2 times width + 2 times depth). Maximum length is limited to 108 inches.

U.S. Postal Service Registered Mail: The U.S. Postal Service offers cost-effective shipping of artifacts of moderate size and value.  Choose “Registered Mail” shipping — not merely Insured, Certified, or Priority Mail.  

• Registered Mail limits each package to 70 pounds and a combined 108 inches (length + 2 times width + 2 times depth).
• Registered Mail packages must be sealed with water-activated brown paper packing tape or cloth tape. Glossy or self-adhesive tape must be covered with paper or cloth tape. Use a permanent marker to address a package; do not use paper labels.

Guidelines for Packing and Shipping Grooved Audio Media

The following are guidelines to help you get your materials to us safely. We cannot be held liable for any damage that occurs to your objects during shipping. If you have questions about shipping your objects, please contact the audio department or the registrar, and we’ll be happy to help plan your  shipment.

Damaged/Broken Discs

ALERT: Cracked, delaminating or broken discs require special care. Please contact the audio department or registrar directly to discuss options for getting these materials to NEDCC safely. In some cases, shipping may be acceptable with the proper precautions. In other cases, we may ask you to hire a specialist fine arts shipper, or use our courier service for pickup within the region.

Intact Cylinders

Cylinders can be shipped in their original boxes. Please wrap each cylinder box in bubble-wrap, and pack them together tightly into a box. Place this box into a larger box filled with packing peanuts.  In addition to protecting the cylinders from physical shock, the extra layers thermally insulate the cylinders, slowing the rate of temperature change.

 After the cylinders are placed in the inner box, fill the box with styrofoam
peanuts, paper, or other clean filler to prevent jostling.

Place the smaller box inside a larger box full of styrofoam peanuts or
bubble wrap.
 

NEDCC has collaborated with University Products on a new housing design that allows the carrier and its original container to be stored together in the same box, but in separate cavities. The boxes provide support that prevents contact with the grooves of the fragile cylinders, and preserves the original container associated with the object, which is especially important when the container includes important metadata. Please don’t ship cylinders without individual boxes! Contact us if you have any questions.

Broken Cylinders

Please don’t send broken materials to NEDCC without sending photos by email first!

We are currently able to work with cylinders broken into 5 or fewer pieces maximum, but this depends on the nature of the breaks and sizes and shapes of the pieces. Areas of loss (i.e. missing pieces) complicate our process considerably, and must be included in the photos and proposal.

If a broken cylinder holds its shape in an existing container, it can be shipped as-is, with cotton or polyester padding stuffed in the middle of the cylinder to maintain outward pressure, preventing the pieces from falling in.

Once the broken cylinders are secure in their containers, they can be shipped as other cylinders, as described above.

Intact Discs

Discs can be stacked in groups of 5-10 of the same size. If your project includes discs of various sizes, create a separate stack for each size. If the discs are not in sleeves, separate them with smooth paper to prevent scuffing by the outer boards or adjacent discs. If you’re sending lacquer ‘acetate’ discs, please use acid-free paper to prevent chemical damage to the disc. If your discs are un-sleeved or are sleeved in acidic materials, NEDCC will include re-sleeving as an option in your proposal.

Place rigid inflexible board such as 1/2 inch honeycomb board to the top and bottom of the stack, creating a ‘sandwich’.  You can buy a 30” x 42” honeycomb board that will yield two 16” boards, six 12” boards or twelve 10” boards.

If you don’t want to buy honeycomb board, you may use two or three layers of corrugated cardboard instead, alternating the ‘grain’ of the cardboard to improve rigidity

Once the ‘sandwich’ is assembled, tape the ends together. Wrap the entire ‘sandwich’ in bubble wrap and tape it shut.

Wrap the entire ‘sandwich’ in one or two layers of bubble wrap, and tape it shut.

Place the bubble wrapped sandwiches in a larger box full of styrofoam packing peanuts to further protect the discs from shock. It’s OK to pack several groups of discs together as long as there is sufficient space between the sandwiches and the outer box.