Quick Reference
The Library of Congress Emergency Preparedness Publications and Response to Floods and Water Damage for Libraries, Archives, Museums, and Other Repositories provide good starting places. The resources below give additional guidance for immediate use by museums, libraries, and other cultural heritage institutions in flood salvage and recovery, and for individuals whose personal or family collections have been impacted. Many resources link to additional information. Remember that public libraries can often provide critical access to information, even when other parts of the information infrastructure are damaged.
For Institutions
- Heritage Emergency National Taskforce
offers many helpful online, linked, and no-cost Resources
like Working with Emergency Responders [PDF: 2.43 MB / 5 p.]. Its
emergency Damage and Response Report helps libraries, museums, and other collections-holding institutions share information and seek help during large-scale disasters such as the Midwest
floods of 2008. - The Regional Alliance for Preservation Bibliography provides online, no-cost resources under the search terms "disaster" or "emergency", or the site category "Emergency Preparedness". These include salvage instructions for specific materials such as photographs and books, as well as contact information for regional conservation centers , many of which have 24-hour emergency lines for cultural institutions.
- The Smithsonian Institution, National Archives and Records Administration, Library of Congress, and the National Park Service in 1993 created A Primer on Disaster Preparedness, Management and Response: Paper-Based Materials.
- National Park Service Conserve O Grams provide key information and procedures for Emergency Response and Recovery (sec. 21), for example: Salvage at a Glance: Paper-Based Collections [PDF: 31 KB / 4 p.] and An Introduction to Respirator Use in Collections Management [PDF: 31 KB / 4 p.] (critical for working with moldy material).
- The American Library Association provides many no-cost resources at Disaster Preparedness and Recovery .
- Emergency: If You're First . . .
is a short first response guide to collections emergencies
from the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and
Artistic Works (AIC).
- Salvage at a Glance by Betty Walsh, Western Association for Art Conservation, is a summary of salvage instructions in table form.
- Emergency Salvage of Wet Books and Records , Northeast Document Conservation Center, summarizes advantages and disadvantages of available drying strategies.
- Procedures for Salvage of Water Damaged Library Materials , written by Peter Waters of the Library of Congress, remains a fundamental resource.
On Funding for Institutional Recovery
- Foundation Grants for Preservation in Libraries, Archives, and Museums (Library of Congress, 2010)
- Before and After Disasters: Federal Funding for Cultural Institutions [PDF: 3.62 MB / 36 p.] (FEMA 233, September 2005)
- Guide to Navigating Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Small
Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Aid for Cultural Institutions (Heritage Preservation, June 2007).
For Individuals and Families
- Preserving Treasures after the Disaster and Emergency Preparedness: Introduction are two of many no-cost online preservation resources from the Library of Congress Preservation Directorate.
- Tips for the Care of Water-Damaged Family Heirlooms and Other Valuables , from the American Institute for Conservation and Heritage Preservation, provides recommendations for homeowners who have flood damage.
Also see Disaster Resources for the Public and Save Your Treasures the Right Way to prepare for or respond to damage from floods and other disasters.
- Resources for Dealing with Flood Damage gives advice about historic structures from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, including Saving Your Flood Damaged Older and Historic Buildings: A Guide for
Property Owners Returning to New Orleans [PDF: 184 KB / 2 p.] and Treatment of Flood-Damaged Older and Historic Buildings [PDF: 264 KB / 16 p.].
To view PDFs
