The Indiana University Libraries announced May 3 a $25,000 grant from the National Recording Preservation Foundation to preserve rare, original recordings of "The Orson Welles Show," the live radio series produced beginning Sept. 15, 1941. The university says that internet chatter seems to indicate only eight of the 19 shows in circulation, but Indiana U. says they will restore 14 original lacquer discs, and other supposedly lost recordings. The university will create a website for the recordings, where users will be able to stream audio, search Welles' scripts, and access expert commentary. Mike Casey, IU's director of technical operations for the Media Digitization and Preservation Initiative, said they have 324 lacquer discs and about 100 accompanying paper scripts from old radio shows. "Most lacquer discs have an aluminum or glass base with a black lacquer coating," he said. "It contains the grooves that carry the sound. This is not a safe way to store a treasure -- lacquer discs are inherently chemically unstable and sometimes fail catastrophically."