Carol,

<< the corrugated board is not buffered, whereas the lignin-free box IS
 comprised of buffered board.  In the back of the catalogue, Hollinger
 offers the following caution: "Neutral, unbuffered papers will eventually
 become acid due to atmospheric gaseous contamination."  Have any of you had
 any experience with acid-free boxes 'gone bad'?  I'm wondering if it's
 worth it, in the long run, to purchase the unbuffered boxes, or if I should
 go for the buffered variety.>>

The long-term is how you should be shopping for collections boxes. Most
collections managers buy the cheaper unbuffered boxes, but the U.S. Navy
acquired the blue-gray colored acid-free, lignin-free boxes for a 25 year
life for the Fort Guijarros Museum Foundation. But the absolutely best option
is corruplast, which is a chemically stable plastic that could last a
century. Your institution would be facing total replacement of the boxes
every 10 years if you use unbuffered boxes.

Another issue of long-term that should be raised. Many outfits use
foil-backed labels to adhere provenience info. I researched the life of the
adhesive with the Hollinger chemists and they would not guarantee more than
10 years, after which the label might simply drop off. This cheery bit of
news caused me to simply print on acid-free labels and drop them in the 4 mil
polyethylene bags, in acid-free sub-boxes inside the corruplast or buffered
boxes.

Ron May, Director of Archaeology
Fort Guijarros Museum Foundation