Salvage Operations for Water Damaged Archival Collections: A Second Glance

Abstract

I have been salvaging wet records and writing disaster plans for the British Columbia Information Management Services (formerly the B.C. Archives and Records Service) since 1982. In May, 1988 the salvage section of the then current disaster plan was printed as an article in the WAAC Newsletter.1 It was well-received and generated many requests for reprints. Recently, I examined wet records from yet another disaster. Some problems were familiar wet volumes and files, but others involved materials that are relatively new, such as carbonless papers and diazo microfiche. The experience reinforced for me the benefits of ongoing disaster planning. I also realized that it was timely to present WAAC readers with the updated plan in the form of this article. I would like to thank the following experts for their advice. For the recovery of sound and video recordings, I am indebted to Brian MacDonald (National Archives of Canada), Gilles St. Laurent (National Library of Canada), and Gerald Gibson, (Library of Congress). The sections on the recovery of photographs were revised on the basis of a workshop supervised by Debbie Hess Norris at the Getty Conservation Institute. Additional tips on archival materials were provided by Nancy Marrelli (Concordia University). Finally, many thanks go to my employer, and Barry Byers, my supervisor, for their ongoing support in maintaining the plan and for giving me the practical experience in the salvage of wet records. GENERAL

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