A Primer on Disaster Preparedness, Management and Response: Paper-Based Materials
October 1993
[Note]
Forward
Acknowledgements
Smithsonian Institution, Office of Risk Management,
revised October 1993
- Emergency Salvage of Flood Damaged Family Papers,
National Archives & Records Administration, Preservation Policy & Services Division,
July 1993
- Mold
- Cleaning and Drying Flood Damaged Items
- Air Drying
- Books
- Documents
- Photographs, Negatives, and Motion Picture Film
- Framed Items
- Documents
- Cleaning and Drying Flood Damaged Items
- Procedures for Salvage of Water-Damaged
Library Materials,
Library of Congress, extracts from unpublished revised text,
by Peter Waters, July 1993
- Part 1
- Introduction
- Part 2
- How Water Affects Books and Unbound Materials
- Estimating Water Absorption
- Part 3
- Coated Papers
- Archival Box Files
- Access
- Stabilizing the Environment
- Assessment of Damage and Planning for Salvage
- Part 4
- The Recovery Team
- Considerations for Recovery of Water-Damaged Collections
- Part 5
- Preliminary Steps in the Evacuation from Water-Damaged Areas
- Removal and Packing of Water-Damaged Materials -- The Work Force
- Removal from Water-Damaged Area--The Catalog and Other Records
- Part 6
- Removal and Packing
- Disposition of Remaining Materials and Cleaning of Water-Exposed Areas
- Cleaning After a River Flood
- Thorough Washing to Remove Heavy Deposits of Mud
- Principles of Stabilization by Freezing
- Part 7
- Cold Temperature Storage Conditions
- Preparation for Freezing
- Containers and Methods of Packing for Freezing
- Part 8
- Vacuum and Freeze Drying Technologies
- Rehabilitation After Drying
- Part 9
- Evaluation of Loss
- Summary of Emergency Procedures
- Introduction
- Mold and Mildew: Prevention of
Microorganism Growth In Museum Collections,
National Park Service,
revised Conserve O Gram Number 3/4, by Jane Merritt, July 1993
- The Microorganisms
- Susceptible Materials
- Damage
- Detection
- Prevention
- Treatment
- Sources
- Susceptible Materials
In the past several years, the United States has suffered major disasters ranging from earthquakes in California to hurricanes in Miami. These disasters often cause severe and ongoing destruction in the form of water damage to cultural property, the most vulnerable being books, documents, and other paper-based materials. On such occasions the Conservation Analytical Laboratory - Smithsonian Institution (CAL-SI), Library of Congress (LC), National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and National Park Service (NPS) receive increased requests for information on disaster preparedness, management, and response for the salvage of books, documents, and other paper-based materials.
In order to facilitate a pro-active rather than reactive approach to disaster preparation with respect to cultural property, four basic references currently issued separately from CAL, LC, NARA, and NPS have been updated and combined into this single pamphlet. The editors hope that this streamlined publication will provide sound introductory information to private individuals and public institutions in preparing for either small or large scale events.
The SI handbook presents guidelines for general facilities preparation and response to a variety of events both natural (storms, floods) and man-made (hazardous material accidents). The NARA article addresses small-scale events and procedures for the general public to be used for the immediate response action for water damaged documents, photographs, etc. The LC booklet provides more in-depth information for both public and private collections dealing with a larger, longer-term coordinated program to salvage bound volumes. Finally, the NPS Conserve O Gram supplies specific information about dealing with the prevention and treatment of mold, a frequent consequence of water damage.
Since little information has been published in Spanish pertinent to the salvage and recovery of cultural property, this consolidated brochure will be published in Spanish as well as in English.
CAL-SI, LC, NARA, and NPS all have additional guidelines and publications on a variety of preservation and conservation topics available to the general and professional public upon request:
Information Office
Conservation Analytical Laboratory
Museum Support
Center
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC 20560
Preservation Policy & Services Division
National Archives at College
Park
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001
Preservation Directorate, LMG-21
Library of Congress
101 Independence
Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20540-4500
Curatorial Services Division
National Park Service
800 North Capitol,
Suite 230
Washington, DC 20013
A Collaborative Publication Sponsored by
the Conservation Analytical
Laboratory
and the Office of Risk Management, SI;
the Preservation Policy
and Services Division, NARA;
the Preservation Directorate, LC;
and the
Curatorial Services Division, NPS.
In commemoration of Arts and Humanities Month and Hispanic Heritage Month October 1993.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION Office of Risk Management:Jacqueline Young, Assistant Director
Priscilla Terry, Risk Manager
Lambertus van Zelst, Director
Dianne van der Reyden, Senior Paper
Conservator
Ronald Bishop, Senior Researcher
Alan Postlethwaite, Deputy
Director
Cynthia G. Fox, Acting Director
Diana Alper, Regional Preservation
Coordinator
Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler, Supervisory Conservator
Shirley Clarkson, Acting Public Affairs Officer
Susan Cooper, Public
Affairs Specialist
Thomas King, Marketing Specialist
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Preservation Directorate:Diane Nester Kresh, Acting Director
Peter Waters, Preservation Strategic
Planning Officer
Amparo de Torres, Assistant to the Conservation Officer
Ann Hitchcock, Chief Curator
Virginia Kilby, Staff Curator
Anthony
Knapp, Staff Curator
Diane Vogt-O'Connor, Archivist
Jane Merritt, Textile Conservator
Continue
Disaster Preparedness Table of Contents
Note: This web version was prepared in 1999,
based on:
A Primer on Disaster Preparedness, Management and Response:
Paper-Based Materials: Selected Reprints issued by: Smithsonian
Institution, National Archives and Records Administration, Library of Congress,
and National Park Service. A Collaborative Publication Sponsored by the
Conservation Analytical Laboratory and the Office of Risk Management,
Smithsonian Institution; the Preservation Policy and Services Division, NARA;
the Preservation Directorate, Library of Congress; and the Curatorial Services
Division, National Park Service. In commemoration of Arts and Humanities Month
and Hispanic Heritage Month (October 1993). Printed in English and Spanish by
the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 1993: pages. This version may
differ from the printed version.
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