Preserving the Collection: Disaster Planning, Response & Recovery

  With Halloween right around the corner, we thought it would be a great time to share some horror stories collected by the Indiana Historical Society. While most of these stories don't contain creatures that go bump in the night, they certainly feature everyday horrors that keep us up at night! http://indianahistory.org/wp-content/uploads/201610_Collections_Horror_Stories.pdf

  The Houston Arts Alliance is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping artists and nonprofits overcome disasters. Their homepage has nine sections with quick, practical information on everything from risk assessment and documentation, to applying for assistance and getting back to work. https://ready.haatx.com/

If you or someone you know is a veteran, you may qualify for assistance in the wake of hurricanes Fiona and Ian. Though this article refers specifically to these two hurricanes, the resources listed can be referred to for any natural disaster. The second link leads to DisasterAssistance.gov, which contains information not just for veterans but families and older Americans as well. https://news.va.gov/109408/what-need-know-va-benefits-hurricane-fiona-ian/?utm_source=middle&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=VetResources&utm_id=05OCT2022   https://www.disasterassistance.gov/information/veterans  

This infographic by the Penn Museum and the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts does a great job of summarizing the effects of moisture and temperature on artifacts.  https://ccaha.org/sites/default/files/attachments/2018-07/CCAHA_InfoGraphic_Combined_0.pdf  

  This document by the Northeast Document Conservation Center is targeted at California residents and institutions, but contains a lot of good, practical advice that can be used by anyone.   https://www.nedcc.org/assets/media/documents/CALIF%20Wildfire%20Resources_2020-10-08.pdf

  What are some of the most common hazards found in collections and what can you do about them? This quick How To Guide and the Conservation Wiki provide practical advice and plenty of resources to guide you on the best practices to identify and mitigate potential hazards.   Collections Trust How To Guide: https://collectionstrust.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/SHARE-Museums-East-How-To-Guide-to-Hazards-in-Museum-Collections.pdf   Conservation Wiki on hazardous collections: https://www.conservation-wiki.com/wiki/Hazardous_Collections

This document produced by the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) in 2016 explores two goals: to establish a reproducable test protocol that could be used for future testing, and to gather information about the responses of a range of material when exposed to fire extinguisher agents. The first section describes the test procedures in detail, and the second section includes a conservator's assessment of the materials at different intervals.  Impact of Fire Extinguisher Agents on Cultural Resource Materials: https://www.nfpa.org/-/media/Files/News-and-Research/Fire-statistics-and-reports/Suppression/RFCulturalResources.ashx