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Friday, February 17, 2012

How Can I Prevent Anyone From Taping Over My Cassette Tape?


“I have a cassette tape that is irreplaceable. Is there a way to prevent anyone from taping over the music on it?” The Newton Falls Public Library staff understands the desire to preserve items which are personal and unique.

We began our online investigation using a common search engine and found the article, Tips on Preserving Audio Cassette Tapes by Amy Kohlstedt and Sara Doyle, for the Iowa Conservation and Preservation Consortium. It gave nine tips for preserving cassettes beyond their 30 year life span.  Tip #6 – Precautions included the following: “Push out the lugs (small squares found at the top corners of cassette tapes) after recording; this prevents the material from being taped over.”

Since we want to be sure of the exact location of the lugs, we searched for an image of a cassette tape. The Wikipedia.org article about cassette tapes had a well labeled photograph of the inside workings with the write-protect tab clearly marked. Our patron took a copy of both articles and photograph with plans to protect her precious recording.

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