Preserving the Collection: Disaster Planning, Response & Recovery

These Conserve-o-Grams by the National Parks Service have great, basic information on staff procedures and telephone lists that can be adapted to your facility.    Museum Staff Emergency Procedures: A Sample Telephone List: https://www.nps.gov/museum/publications/conserveogram/21-10.pdf     Museum Staff Emergency Procedures: A Sample Emergency "Flip Chart": https://www.nps.gov/museum/publications/conserveogram/21-11.pdf

Whether you're making improvements to your facility, digitizing your collection, or in recovery mode, the Texas Historical Commission has a great list of resources for grants and fundraising on their website: https://www.thc.texas.gov/preserve/projects-and-programs/museum-assistance/grants-funding

Are you looking to create or improve your site's facility security plan? The Texas Historical Commission has a webinar coming up on Tuesday, March 21 on developing a plan to protect your personnel, physical assets, and information. Visit this link to register: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/2706248189724427865

  A single disaster can take lifetimes to fix. In1973 a fire at the National Personnel Record Center's building destroyed 18 million military personnel files. Six million more were recovered with varying degrees of fire and water damage. The new building, opened in 2011, houses a state-of-the-art preservation center, where the important work of preserving and conserving these records is ongoing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xNvAudiRwU

  These great videos by The Northeast Museum Services Center (NMSC) give a great overview of the first steps to take when you arrive on the scene of an emergency situation at your institution, as well as tips for handling a variety of items. Response and Recovery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqUxiXaVvA4 Salvage Techniques: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQctO6LHo1o