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Part 2 - Disaster Actions
Section 9: Special Handling Instructions: Disaster Affected
Collection Material |
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9.1 Introduction
To avoid causing further damage to disaster affected collection
material, staff should refer to the following special handling instructions.
Appropriate handling depends on the type of material and the type and severity
of the damage.
Material covered in this section includes:
- Books, journals, pamphlets and newspapers
- Large format sheet material
- Small format sheet material
- Artworks on paper
- Easel paintings
- Vellum, parchment and leather material
- Photographic material
- Electronic and magnetic media
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9.2 Books, Journals, Pamphlets and Newspapers
9.2.1 Water Damage
During retrieval:
- Take care with wet books. If a book is wet and open leave it open.
If it is wet and closed, leave it closed
- Do not remove covers or dust jackets from books
- Pack books into boxes and crates spine down. Interleave books with
freezer paper
- Do not pack books too tightly
- Where books are saturated wear rubber gloves when handling
them
- Do not press saturated books and/or documents to remove water.
Pressing can damage book structures and force dirt and mud into the paper
surface
- Do not wipe soiling or mud from wet books
- Clear books from the floor, then remove books from shelves top to
bottom
- Damp books should be frozen if the relative humidity is over
55%
- Remove the wettest books from the area first to reduce relative
humidity
During recovery:
- Book and paper restoration starts with either air or vacuum freeze
drying
- Books with coated/glossy papers should be frozen then vacuum
freeze dried where possible
- Always use cold air to air dry wet books
- Marginally wet books can be air dried using fanning and/or
interleaving methods
- Mud or silt affected books should be cleaned before they
completely dry but can be frozen for later treatment
- Do not wash the following categories of items:
- open or swollen volumes
- vellum or parchment bindings or pages
- leather bindings
- fragile or brittle materials
- materials with water soluble components
9.2.2 Mould
- Do not wipe mould from wet (or dry) books
- Wet mouldy books should be frozen then vacuum freeze dried and
fumigated before cleaning
- People with a history of allergies and respiratory illness should
not handle or clean mouldy items
9.2.3 Fire Damage
- Fire damaged books should be handled as little as possible during
the retrieval and recovery process
- All fire damaged material should be assumed to be fragile
- Wrap fire damaged books in clean unprinted paper or freezer paper
and place between cardboard sheets for protection. Clearly label all
packages
- Burned and wet books should be frozen for later treatment
9.2.4 Dust
- Book collections affected by dust should be vacuum cleaned on site
where possible
9.2.5 General Physical Damage
- Ensure that books and loose parts such as spines, covers and pages
are packaged together prior to treatment. Shrink wrapping, boxing, bagging and
foldering can be used
9.2.6 Contamination
- Books contaminated by sewage fire retardants, or other material
should be rinsed where possible prior to handling and packaging for
recovery
- Always wear protective clothing and gloves when handling
contaminated material
9.3 Large Sheet Material
Maps, Plans, Posters,
Prints
9.3.2 Water damage
- Do not wipe mould from wet (or dry) large format items
- Handle wet large format material with extreme care
- Handle items with water soluble media as for artworks on paper,
Section 8.5
- Do not attempt to separate wet large format material during
retrieval.
- If the material is rolled, leave it rolled. If it is flat, leave
it flat
- Generally, wet large format items should be frozen for later
drying and treatment, particularly if relative humidity is above 55%
- Transport the material using its housing ie: folders, boxes,
drawers. Where this is not possible, transport flat or rolled with support
- Small amounts of wet large format items can be carefully air
dried
9.3.2 Mould
- Do not wipe mould from wet (or dry) large format items
- Wet mouldy items should be frozen then dried and fumigated before
cleaning
- Mouldy items should be fumigated before cleaning
9.3.3 Fire Damage
- All fire damaged large format items should be handled and treated
as extremely fragile
- Fire damaged items should be handled as little as possible prior
to treatment
- Wet fire damaged items should be frozen for later drying and
treatment
9.3.4 Dust
- Dust affected large format items should be transported as for
water damaged items for cleaning
9.3.5 General Physical Damage
- Ensure all parts of the item are kept together prior to
treatment
9.3.6 Contamination
- Always wear protective clothing and gloves when handling
contaminated material
- Non water soluble items can be lightly rinsed under supervision of
a conservator
- Water soluble items should be packaged in plastic and frozen for
future treatment
9.4 Small Sheet Material
(Manuscripts,
Ephemera, Music Files)
9.4.1 Water Damage
- Loose, unbound small format sheet material can usually be air
dried provided they can be separated into small piles and a sufficient amount
of dehumidified cool air introduced
- Large unmanageable amounts can be packed for freezing. Papers
should be separated into groups up to 5 cm thick and packed into crates
interleaved with freezer paper
- Do not attempt to separate groups of wet single sheet material
into single sheets. Single items found in masses can be separated easily if
frozen then vacuum freeze dried
- Keep single sheet material together and in order during all stages
of the retrieval and recovery process
- Leave office files in suspension hangers in filing cabinet drawers
and air dry with cool air in a well ventilated area
- Take care when removing wet material from wet or damaged storage
boxes. Do not overturn boxes to remove material
- Where masses of material is wet, remove the wettest first to
reduce relative humidity
- Do not wipe soiling or mud from wet paper
- Do not press groups of saturated papers to remove water
9.4.2 Mould
- Do not wipe mould from wet (or dry) papers
- Wet mouldy papers should be frozen then vacuum freeze dried and
fumigated before cleaning
- People with a history of allergies and respiratory illness should
not handle or clean mouldy items
9.4.3 Fire Damage
- All fire damaged small format sheet material should be treated as
fragile and handled with extreme care
- Wrap groups of fire damaged material in clean unprinted paper and
place in crates for transport. Clearly label all packages
- Burned and wet material should be frozen for later treatment
9.4.4 Dust
- Where possible vacuum clean dust affected material on site
9.4.5 General Physical Damage
- Ensure that all items including their loose parts are kept
together prior to treatment. Bags, folders, boxes and pockets can be used
9.4.6 Contamination
- Small format sheet material can be rinsed of contamination where
possible prior to packaging for recovery
- Always wear protective clothing and gloves when handling
contaminated material
9.5 Artworks on Paper
9.5.1 Water Damage
- Handle with extreme care
- Do not attempt to separate sheets adhered together
- Do not blot the surface of artworks on paper which have water
soluble media
- Interleave artworks in folders
- Transport artworks flat with supports or in their containers, ie:
solander boxes, map drawers
- Unframe framed artworks by laying them face down on a smooth
clean, padded surface. Remove any excess water by carefully blotting from the
back
- Where possible artworks should be air dried
- Where there are problems such as mould, warped saturated backings
and works adhered together it may be appropriate to freeze and vacuum freeze
dry
9.5.2 Mould
- Do not attempt to wipe away mould from wet (or dry) art works
- Wet artworks should be air dried as soon as possible if relative
humidity is above 55% to prevent mould attack
- Where there is too much material to air dry artworks should be
frozen and vacuum freeze dried then appropriately treated
9.5.3 Fire Damage
- Fire damaged artworks should be handled with extreme care prior to
treatment
- Transport fire damaged artworks in their containers, ie; solander
boxes, map drawers
- Fire damaged wet artworks should be frozen and vacuum freeze dried
prior to treatment
9.5.4 Dust
- Dust affected artworks on paper should be interleaved in folders
and transported flat with supports for treatment
9.5.5 General Physical Damage
- Ensure all parts of the artwork remain together prior to
treatment
9.6 Vellum, Parchment, Leather
9.6.1 Water Damage
- Handle wet vellum, parchment and leather very carefully. Always
use a support such as cardboard to handle this material
- Wet vellum, parchment and leather should be air dried where
possible. A combination of tension and pressure drying may be required to dry
this material successfully. Slow and gentle blotting of saturated areas can
enhance drying
- Where freezing is necessary, vellum, parchment and leather items
should be separated with freezer paper during packing
9.7 Easel Paintings
- Always consult a qualified paintings conservator prior to
retrieval and recovery
9.7.1 Water Damage
- Drain away excess water before transporting
- Transport horizontally, image upward where possible. If not, carry
the painting facing towards you, holding the sides of the frame with the palms
of your hands
- Use more than one person to transport larger paintings
- Water damaged easel paintings must never be frozen. They should be
appropriately air dried immediately
- Where possible paintings should be unframed before drying
- Easel paintings should be dried flat and face up on clean padded
surfaces
9.7.2 Fire Damage
- Fire damaged easel paintings should be handled as little as
possible prior to specialised assessment and treatment
9.7.3 Mould
- Do not wipe mould from wet (or dry) easel paintings
9.7.4 Dust
- Transport as for water damaged paintings or where possible have
the paintings cleaned by a conservator on site
9.7.5 General Physical Damage
- Ensure paintings and loose parts are kept together prior to
treatment
9.7.6 Contamination
- Easel painting should be assessed by a paintings conservator
before action can be taken
9.8 Photographic Materials
(Albums, Microfiche, Microfilm, Motion
Picture Film, Photographs, Negatives, Reel Film)
Water Damage
- In general photographic materials should be frozen only if they
cannot be appropriately air dried or dried by running through a processor.
Freezing can cause damage to the emulsion layer. If freezing is necessary a
blast freezer should be used
9.8.1 Albums
- Albums should be handled as for books and journals but freezing
and particularly freeze drying should be avoided
9.8.2 Wet Collodion Photographs
- Wet collodion photographs ie: ambrotypes, pannotypes, tintypes and
wet collodion glass negatives should be given priority and salvaged without
delay and air dried. Handle very carefully and keep face up at all times
9.8.3 Daguerreotypes
- Handle very carefully and keep face up at all times
- Air dry immediately, checking that moisture has not entered the
sealed image
9.8.4 Wet Glass Negatives and Photographs
- Wet glass negatives and photographs should be kept wet. If dry,
keep them dry
- Glass plates should be packed vertically and each plate
interleaved with spun bonded polyester. Take care to pack out spaces to prevent
movement during transport. Use small, strong boxes
9.8.5 Photographs on Paper
- Non water soluble photographs which are wet should be kept wet
until they can be washed and air dried or treated by a commercial
laboratory
- Do not allow prints to remain wet for longer than 48 hours before
treatment as emulsions and coloured layers may begin to separate
9.8.6 Photographic Negatives - (Black and White)
- If negatives are wet keep them wet in plastic containers of clean
distilled water. If they are dry keep them dry
- If negatives are to be kept wet for more than 24 hours add 1%
formalin to the water container to prevent mould growth
- Emulsions can separate from the plastic carrier if left too long in
water
- Where large amounts of photographic negatives are wet they can be
blast frozen in small groups in polythene bags
9.8.7 Photographic Negatives - (Colour)
- A processing laboratory should handle wet colour negatives
9.8.8 Nitrate Negatives
- Do not touch the emulsion surfaces
- Nitrate negatives should be frozen immediately and air dried
9.8.9 Acetate Negatives
- Acetate based microfilm should be treated as for any other
microfilm type (see below: 8.8.12)
- Remove from enclosures and separate to prevent blocking.
- If dirty/contaminated or very wet, wash in clean water and allow to
air dry.
- Air dry if clean.
9.8.10 Motion Picture Film
- Motion picture film should be left in its container. The container
should be filled with fresh clean water, packed flat into water tight
containers and shipped to a commercial processor for treatment
9.8.11 Reel Film
- Do not allow reel film to dry out while rolled up
- Keep film wet and transport it to a commercial processor or air
dry if clean
9.8.12 Microfiche, Microfilm and Apperture Cards
- If the master copy is unaffected discard the wet service copy and
create a new duplicate
- Do not allow silver halide microfilm or microfiche to dry out.
Keep immersed and send to a commercial processor for treatment
- Vesicular and diazo microfilm can be washed under cold fresh
running water and air dried
9.9 Optical and Magnetic Media
Compact Disks,
Computer Disks (Floppy Disks), Oral History Tapes (reel-to-reel, digital audio
(DAT) cassettes), Video Tapes
Optical and magnetic media are an area of development where formats
are being upgraded continuously. The special handling instructions listed below
for this material reflect current thinking. During emergencies involving this
material care should be taken to ensure actions reflect technological change
and treatments are appropriate.
Note: Vacuum cleaners and other equipment with electric motors should
not be used near magnetic media. Long suction hoses can be used to keep vacuum
cleaners clear of this material
9.9.1 Water damage
- If this material can be restored to a useable standard, it should
be copied and then disposed of
- It is possible to save information on slightly wet computer
software discs by blow drying them with cool air. Copy the dry disk and
discard
- Wet disks need to be removed from their plastic cases, wiped dry
with a clean, soft, lint free cloth, placed into a new case, copied and
discarded
- The longer a disk is wet the greater the information loss
9.9.2 Optical media (Compact Disks)
- Remove from water immediately
- Remove from containers and carriers
- Do not bend or scratch
- Rinse off any dirt, mud with clean, distilled water
- DO NOT SOAK
- Drip dry in dish drain or rack, vertical not flat (away from
sunlight)
- Clean with soft, dry lintless cloth
- Move cloth perpendicular to grooves
- DO NOT MOVE IN A CIRCULAR MOTION
- Place cleaned compact discs in clean containers or recopy and
- discard original
9.9.3 Floppy Disks
- Water affected 3½" and 5¼" disks are likely to be
permanently damaged.
- If salvage of these disks is absolutely necessary, the disks can
be removed from their jackets, gently agitated in cool distilled water, air
dried, placed in a new cover and copied. There is an extreme risk of damage to
hardware (ie disk drives).
9.9.4 Magnetic Tapes (Oral History Tapes, Video Tapes, Computer
Tapes)
- Magnetic tapes are especially affected by water and wet tapes may
not be salvageable
- Reel to reel tapes may be cleaned and air dried, but should be
disposed of after copying
- Wet cassettes and cartridges are difficult to open and dry and
will most likely be lost
