Preserving the Collection: Disaster Planning, Response & Recovery

 In case you missed our recent webinar with Adrienne Berney of NC CREST on Disaster Recovery Triage, the recording and resources have been uploaded to our Resources page: https://www.txcera.org/resources#h.f2ufip748k5y

  We generally try to point people in the direction of free resources, but if you don't have them already, the Field Guide to Emergency Response and the Emergency Response & Salvage Wheel are excellent additions to a supply cache, go bag, or personal collection. Wheel: https://store.culturalheritage.org/site/index.php?app=ecom&ns=prodshow&ref=FAIC-1 Field Guide: https://store.culturalheritage.org/site/index.php?app=ecom&ns=prodshow&ref=FAIC-2

The American Alliance of Museums is maintaining a page on their website of how recent executive orders affect  museums and libraries, and ways that you can make a difference: https://www.aam-us.org/2025/01/28/impact-of-executive-orders-and-pause-on-disbursement-of-federal-funds/ The American Libraries Association also maintains a page on their website for advocacy: https://www.ala.org/advocacy/show-up-for-our-libraries

This reference guide by the American Alliance of Museums provides a primer on disaster preparedness and helps museums understand the process of developing a disaster preparedness/emergency preparedness plan. Developing a Disaster Preparedness/Emergency Response Plan: https://www.aam-us.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/developing-a-disaster-plan-final.pdf

  A bit of good news for this week! How photos lost in American disasters find their way home, with a little help from people who care: https://apnews.com/article/found-photos-la-california-wildfires-hurricane-helene-63837175cfa3328873f98b9bdaad2e6f

Does this week's damp weather have you thinking about mold? This Guide to Tackling Mould is a condensed version of current practices based on the Icon Care of Collections Group 2023 Annual General Meeting 2023: https://www.icon.org.uk/static/d044cccf-4380-48b0-bea6bdc9864b3b56/CCG-Mould-Factsheet.pdf

Taking care of your mental health is always important, especially during an emergency. While we usually only think of the initial impact of a disaster and the triage stage, a crisis may take months or years to resolve and for things to return to normal. This paper, "Managing Mental Health in Cultural Heritage Emergency Response: Occupational Safety and Operational Resilience" by Kennedy and Lockshin provides some background information and tips on how to manage and take care of yourself and others throughout the process: https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/117397/Nora%20Lockshin%20-%20Kennedy_Lockshin-Collections19_02-ManagingMentalHealth_rev_accepted_copy.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y