Preserving the Collection: Disaster Planning, Response & Recovery

Monitoring and controlling RH and temperature can have a great effect on your collection's condition. It can not only aid in the long-term stability of a collection, but also prevent other issues, such as pests and mold. This short video by the Western Australian Museum discusses how RH and temperature interact and how to monitor them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCnULkJRM50

      FAIC will be hosting what looks to be a very useful and interesting webinar, Preparing for Extreme Weather: Fire and Hurricane, on Thursday, August 18. Visit Connecting to Collections Care for the full description and to register: https://connectingtocollections.org/extreme_weather/

Flooding, fire suppression, and other sudden water-related disasters are what we fear most, but problems can occur slowly through the incursion of moisture. What is the difference in dew point and RH, and how do you control them - especially in a non-mechanized environement like a historic building, or in a disaster situation? This presentation by Jeremy Linden, hosted by the AIC Emergency Committee, provides a thorough discussion of moisture and what you can do about it. The disaster section begins around 1:19:00. Managing Moisture in Non Mechanized Environments and Disaster Situations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK4fFFt4i0I&list=PL4DA994141F023199&index=35

When there is an emergency at your institution - whether it's a burst pipe that only affects your building, or a hurricane that affects the entire coast - you should always consider the safety of yourself and your staff first. When it comes to health and safety, there is no better resource than OSHA. This page of fact sheets and quick reference cards does a lot of the safety research for a wide range of situations, whether you need to keep employees safe from heat-related illnesses or ensure good hand hygiene whether or not you have access to clean water. Worker Safety and Health Resources for Hurricane and Flood Cleanup and Recovery: https://www.osha.gov/emergency-preparedness/hurricane-flood-resources

  Whether you decide to dry your paper and book collections in house or hire a contractor, there are several ways to go about doing it. Your preferred method may vary depending on the extent of the incident, the space you're working in, the staff and volunteers you have available, and how much time and money you're able to put toward the problem. These slides and papers will help explain the different drying techniques and demonstrate which ones may be best for your situation, as well as considerations when working with a contractor. National Archives, Comparison of Drying Techniques: https://www.archives.gov/preservation/disaster-response/drying-techniques.html Kaplan and Ludwig, Efficacy of Various Drying Techniques: https://www.archives.gov/preservation/conservation/drying-methods-01.html , and slides: https://www.archives.gov/files/preservation/conservation/drying-methods-01.pdf

  The Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts is looking for organizations to serve as beta-testers for our upcoming Collections Management Policy Toolkit (CMPT). Developed with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) , the Toolkit is a free online tool that allows you to build a custom Collections Management Policy for your institution. Developed with help from nationally renowned experts in the collections management field, the CMPT will guide users step-by-step through the development process to create a policy that is uniquely tailored an organization's collection and meets professional, ethical, and legal standards. We at CCAHA have been hard at work over the last year building out this tool and are excited to be entering one of the final phases of development: testing!   Before officially launching the CMPT this fall, we are recruiting a small number of collecting institutions who will receive early access to the tool to te...

Recently, the REALM (REopening Archives, Libraries, and Museums) Project hosted a series of three forums with representatives of archives, libraries, museums, and related service organizations and agencies; these forums focused on how to prepare for, navigate, and recover from public health crises. The summaries are available to read on the REALM Project website: https://www.oclc.org/realm/resources/forum-summaries.html