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I am looking to update the labeling system for our collection. We currently have archivally stable cardboard boxes, and in the past, labels have been written directly onto the boxes. I am looking into the use of self-adhesive clear poly envelopes that we can put label cards into. Does anyone else use these (or something similar) on cardboard boxes? One manufacturer notes that 'self-adhesive products have a limited shelf life'. If we are going to be putting money and effort into changing our labeling over, I want to make sure it will last a few decades- any major cons you have experienced (eg, yellowing of plastic, adhesive not sticking well, the plastic envelope 'fusing' together, etc). Thanks!

------------------------------
Alex Denning
Senior Collections Manager, Human Osteology
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology
Albuquerque NM
(505) 277-1825
------------------------------

Dear Alex,

Thanks for sharing your question. You have already identified the two factors that would be of greatest concern, the longevity of the plastic, and the adhesive. There are many options for plastic sleeves that would meet your requirements, but few that I'm aware of that are self-adhesive. I'm unfamiliar with anyone using this type of system, but allow me to investigate further and see if I can offer more information.

Best,
Jen

------------------------------
Jennifer Johnson
Special Collections Conservator
University of Notre Dame Libraries
South Bend IN
jhuntjoh@nd.edu
(574) 631-7754
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-09-2021 12:37
From: Alex Denning
Subject: Self-adhesive labels

I am looking to update the labeling system for our collection. We currently have archivally stable cardboard boxes, and in the past, labels have been written directly onto the boxes. I am looking into the use of self-adhesive clear poly envelopes that we can put label cards into. Does anyone else use these (or something similar) on cardboard boxes? One manufacturer notes that 'self-adhesive products have a limited shelf life'. If we are going to be putting money and effort into changing our labeling over, I want to make sure it will last a few decades- any major cons you have experienced (eg, yellowing of plastic, adhesive not sticking well, the plastic envelope 'fusing' together, etc). Thanks!

------------------------------
Alex Denning
Senior Collections Manager, Human Osteology
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology
Albuquerque NM
(505) 277-1825
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 2/9/2021 5:23:00 PM
From: Jennifer Johnson
Subject: RE: Self-adhesive labels

Dear Alex,

Thanks for sharing your question. You have already identified the two factors that would be of greatest concern, the longevity of the plastic, and the adhesive. There are many options for plastic sleeves that would meet your requirements, but few that I'm aware of that are self-adhesive. I'm unfamiliar with anyone using this type of system, but allow me to investigate further and see if I can offer more information.

Best,
Jen

------------------------------
Jennifer Johnson
Special Collections Conservator
University of Notre Dame Libraries
South Bend IN
jhuntjoh@nd.edu
(574) 631-7754
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-09-2021 12:37
From: Alex Denning
Subject: Self-adhesive labels

I am looking to update the labeling system for our collection. We currently have archivally stable cardboard boxes, and in the past, labels have been written directly onto the boxes. I am looking into the use of self-adhesive clear poly envelopes that we can put label cards into. Does anyone else use these (or something similar) on cardboard boxes? One manufacturer notes that 'self-adhesive products have a limited shelf life'. If we are going to be putting money and effort into changing our labeling over, I want to make sure it will last a few decades- any major cons you have experienced (eg, yellowing of plastic, adhesive not sticking well, the plastic envelope 'fusing' together, etc). Thanks!

------------------------------
Alex Denning
Senior Collections Manager, Human Osteology
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology
Albuquerque NM
(505) 277-1825
------------------------------

I would recommend against adhesive sleeves. I currently work with a very large collection stored in cardboard boxes where clear adhesive sleeves were used and some dating as recently as the late 1990s clearly started falling off years ago (I can tell because the packing tape used to re-stick them is also falling off).

In a previous position, I used foil-back stickers as box labels (available from Gaylord and others). They cannot be changed out as the labels in a sleeve can, and they are not particularly cheap, but they can be overprinted with another sticker and most importantly, they will not fall off.

------------------------------
Tamira K. Brennan, PhD, RPA
Section Head of Curator
Illinois State Archaeological Survey
Champaign IL
(618) 453-5031
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-09-2021 12:37
From: Alex Denning
Subject: Self-adhesive labels

I am looking to update the labeling system for our collection. We currently have archivally stable cardboard boxes, and in the past, labels have been written directly onto the boxes. I am looking into the use of self-adhesive clear poly envelopes that we can put label cards into. Does anyone else use these (or something similar) on cardboard boxes? One manufacturer notes that 'self-adhesive products have a limited shelf life'. If we are going to be putting money and effort into changing our labeling over, I want to make sure it will last a few decades- any major cons you have experienced (eg, yellowing of plastic, adhesive not sticking well, the plastic envelope 'fusing' together, etc). Thanks!

------------------------------
Alex Denning
Senior Collections Manager, Human Osteology
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology
Albuquerque NM
(505) 277-1825
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 2/9/2021 12:38:00 PM
From: Alex Denning
Subject: Self-adhesive labels

I am looking to update the labeling system for our collection. We currently have archivally stable cardboard boxes, and in the past, labels have been written directly onto the boxes. I am looking into the use of self-adhesive clear poly envelopes that we can put label cards into. Does anyone else use these (or something similar) on cardboard boxes? One manufacturer notes that 'self-adhesive products have a limited shelf life'. If we are going to be putting money and effort into changing our labeling over, I want to make sure it will last a few decades- any major cons you have experienced (eg, yellowing of plastic, adhesive not sticking well, the plastic envelope 'fusing' together, etc). Thanks!

------------------------------
Alex Denning
Senior Collections Manager, Human Osteology
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology
Albuquerque NM
(505) 277-1825
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 2/9/2021 12:38:00 PM
From: Alex Denning
Subject: Self-adhesive labels

I am looking to update the labeling system for our collection. We currently have archivally stable cardboard boxes, and in the past, labels have been written directly onto the boxes. I am looking into the use of self-adhesive clear poly envelopes that we can put label cards into. Does anyone else use these (or something similar) on cardboard boxes? One manufacturer notes that 'self-adhesive products have a limited shelf life'. If we are going to be putting money and effort into changing our labeling over, I want to make sure it will last a few decades- any major cons you have experienced (eg, yellowing of plastic, adhesive not sticking well, the plastic envelope 'fusing' together, etc). Thanks!

------------------------------
Alex Denning
Senior Collections Manager, Human Osteology
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology
Albuquerque NM
(505) 277-1825
------------------------------

I would advise against self-adhesive sleeves on cardboard boxes, despite the benefit of being able to change out the contents because of the "sleeve" form.

My organization historically used heavy-duty self-adhesive sleeves, and all of them from the late 1990s and earlier have been falling off for some time (see pic).

Archival foil-backed labels can be placed directly on boxes (or plastic bags) and will not face similar problems. These are available via Gaylord Archival and other suppliers. Although they cannot be "swapped out" like a sleeve, they can have a new label placed directly on top of them.

------------------------------
Tamira Brennan
Section Head of Curation
Illinois State Archaeological Survey
Champaign IL
(618) 453-5031
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-10-2021 13:06
From: Judy Knight
Subject: Self-adhesive labels

As box labels we don't use the expensive self-adhesive ones, we use archival photo sleeves in the 4" x 6" size and have had no trouble with them showing age for about 20 years that we've been using them.  I intentionally do not attach them on all four sides but at the top only so when a box is on the lowest shelf I can pull the label up parallel to the floor and read it more easily than if I have to crouch down on the floor to read it. The tape I use to attach is ordinary wide clear packaging tape. No one has said its archival, but it is certainly not like ordinary scotch tape. The sleeves come from a variety of manufacturers, just google "archival photo sleeves." 

Long ago I gave up the notion that boxes had to be numbered in some kind of consecutive order on a shelf--they are placed in order by box size, with the most water-sensitive things at the top shelves (leather, ivory, paper, bone) and the most stable (glass, ceramics, porcelain) on the bottom shelves in the event of flood. Knowing that fireman's power hoses can knock boxes off top shelves we never put anything on the top of a shelving unit, though the "top bookshelf", as in an ordinary bookshelf unit, we label as "shelf 2" to leave room for the possibility that something might be laid on top of the unit. This order of placement might change if you have a  sprinkler system-- we don't in our storage rooms. The only things we ever lay on top of a shelving unit are unaccessioned empty boxes. Your bone specimens are going to be highly water sensitive, aren't they? Professional conservators can advise on storage best practices. 

You probably don't have the issue that we have, of needing to get things out of a box often for exhibit, or add another thing into a box when there is room--so I have learned to leave the side open, so an index card with the label can be altered and slipped back in.  But then the card can slip out when the box is moved.  So the solution to that problem is to get some mailer stickers, the kind that are circles, meant to use when mailing newsletters so all the folded pages stay together, but they can be easily lifted, torn or pried off to open and don't damage the sleeve.  Another thing I do is to print the 4" x 6" label on a full 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, and fold it to insert in the sleeve--the added bulk helps keep the label from slipping out.

Here's another tip I learned from the Greeley Museum in Greeley Colorado, which is to name all the shelving aisles for infamous outlaws or famous people from our town, so the description of location might start with "Carlisle Aisle (for an infamous local train robber), South, Bay 2, Shelf 5". Aisles all have a left and right side, so using compass direction differentiates them. We tape the aisle name to the floor. 

More than you asked for, but fun to think about what we've learned from trial and error and seeing what others do. 

--

Judy Knight, Collection Manager

Laramie Plains Museum

(home) 1912 Custer Street,  Laramie, WY 82070

je.judy@gmail.com   307-760-7427 (mobile) 

Original Message:
Sent: 2/9/2021 12:38:00 PM
From: Alex Denning
Subject: Self-adhesive labels

I am looking to update the labeling system for our collection. We currently have archivally stable cardboard boxes, and in the past, labels have been written directly onto the boxes. I am looking into the use of self-adhesive clear poly envelopes that we can put label cards into. Does anyone else use these (or something similar) on cardboard boxes? One manufacturer notes that 'self-adhesive products have a limited shelf life'. If we are going to be putting money and effort into changing our labeling over, I want to make sure it will last a few decades- any major cons you have experienced (eg, yellowing of plastic, adhesive not sticking well, the plastic envelope 'fusing' together, etc). Thanks!

------------------------------
Alex Denning
Senior Collections Manager, Human Osteology
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology
Albuquerque NM
(505) 277-1825
------------------------------

Hi Alex -

We used to use the foil backed labels from Gaylord brothers for strictly applying numbers to our boxes. Then we would use polyethylene baseball card sleeves for photos, which would be attached to boxes with 3M 415 Double-sided tape.

Foil backed labels: www.gaylord.com
Baseball card sleeves: www.walmart.com

In 2012 a grant funded inventory project began and barcodes were added to all of our standardized boxes. The registrars chose a new labeling system which employs a clear vinyl press-on sleeve and printable index card stock. The system seems to work well, but the adhesive on the press-on sleeve is not durable. I found that the press-on sleeves easily become dislodged. To combat this issue, I add strips of 3M 415 tape to the back of the sleeve and its helped quite a bit.

Clear vinyl press-on sleeve: www.uline.com
Printable index cards: www.staples.com



------------------------------
William Donnelly
Assistant Preventive Conservator and Affiliated Instructor WUDPAC
Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library
Winterthur DE
(302) 888-4680
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-09-2021 12:37
From: Alex Denning
Subject: Self-adhesive labels

I am looking to update the labeling system for our collection. We currently have archivally stable cardboard boxes, and in the past, labels have been written directly onto the boxes. I am looking into the use of self-adhesive clear poly envelopes that we can put label cards into. Does anyone else use these (or something similar) on cardboard boxes? One manufacturer notes that 'self-adhesive products have a limited shelf life'. If we are going to be putting money and effort into changing our labeling over, I want to make sure it will last a few decades- any major cons you have experienced (eg, yellowing of plastic, adhesive not sticking well, the plastic envelope 'fusing' together, etc). Thanks!

------------------------------
Alex Denning
Senior Collections Manager, Human Osteology
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology
Albuquerque NM
(505) 277-1825
------------------------------

Thanks to all who responded to this question. Here are a few thoughts I'd like to add to try to weigh the pros and cons for your needs.

As Judy mentioned, there are a number of good quality plastic sleeves available, such as photo sleeves, that I think would meet your needs in terms of longevity. Look for products that use inert plastics such as polypropylene, and polyethylene that do not contain additives or plasticizers that can yellow over time. PVC is something you definitely want to stay away from. The downside is that some of these products may have a high upfront cost for their quality.

The adhesive will likely be more problematic long-term. Acrylic based adhesives are your best bet, and there are many good options including both tapes and labels. As Tamira suggests, I think foil-back labels with an acrylic adhesive are a good suggestion, and they are found in a number of formats for easy printing. However, even the best adhesives can degrade due to factors such as fluctuations in environment (particularly changes in relative humidity), and physical disruption if collections are shifted frequently when updating label cards, or collections are called out for use. If you use an envelope with any thickness it may be more easily pulled at the edges, as compared to a flatter solution such as a label. Thinking realistically about your storage environment, and how you access your collections may help you decide which product would be a better investment for you.

Lastly, I would consider the investment of time to implement and maintain your solution. Creating sleeves, label cards and fastening to a box, will take much more time than a peel and stick label. Again, this may be worth your time if you frequently update your labels. If not, the potential time and cost of updating a label may be worth it. While the future is hard to predict, be sure to consider any potential factors that may cause you to relabel collections going forward, such as a rehousing project, or location shift. This may also impact how much you want to invest.

Best,
Jen

------------------------------
Jennifer Johnson
Special Collections Conservator
University of Notre Dame Libraries
jhuntjoh@nd.edu
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-09-2021 12:37
From: Alex Denning
Subject: Self-adhesive labels

I am looking to update the labeling system for our collection. We currently have archivally stable cardboard boxes, and in the past, labels have been written directly onto the boxes. I am looking into the use of self-adhesive clear poly envelopes that we can put label cards into. Does anyone else use these (or something similar) on cardboard boxes? One manufacturer notes that 'self-adhesive products have a limited shelf life'. If we are going to be putting money and effort into changing our labeling over, I want to make sure it will last a few decades- any major cons you have experienced (eg, yellowing of plastic, adhesive not sticking well, the plastic envelope 'fusing' together, etc). Thanks!

------------------------------
Alex Denning
Senior Collections Manager, Human Osteology
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology
Albuquerque NM
(505) 277-1825
------------------------------