Shad Turner asked:  "For how many years can I expect regular,
recycled bond (and the ink/laser jet type on it) to last while boxed
up?"

Subsequent responses from several subscribers sufficiently discussed the
characteristics and preservation challenges of various types of office
papers and inks.  

Still there was no real insight on the Shad's statement, "By 'to last',
I mean that I want somebody to be able to open up the box and handle the
documents normally without excess care."  I suggest archival theory is
applicable here.  

For several years the concept of "Minimal Processing" has become
increasingly accepted in the archival community as the appropriate
approach to modern collections.  Essentially Minimal Processing is based
on the reality that late 20th Century technology resulted in more
documents than traditional processing standards can cope with.  Moreover
information inflation results in each document having less value so that
the loss of individual pages is not as serious as in the past.
Consequently the emphasis is on storing the papers in appropriate
environmental conditions and describing the collection.

Whether this policy of benign neglect is appropriate in Shad's case
depends upon how valuable these papers are and how long they have to be
retained.  And that is a question only he and his Risk Management
Department can answer.

Paul R. Scott, CA, CRM
Records Management Officer
Harris County, TX

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