Hello again ANLA members! For those of you who did not know, I'm back as ANLA's Preservation Advisor for the Fall 2010 - Winter 2011, and I must say it's great to be back again! This is also my first blog, so ANLA's not the only one moving into the 21st century...Please take this opportunity to bring forward those preservation questions, concerns, or simple curiosities you may have surrounding your archival collection. You can reach me via the ANLA office and I'll be sure to get back to you individually. In the meantime, I'll be using this blog as an opportunity to discuss the preservation issues you bring to me, and others that I feel are relevant to ANLA members.
So I was given the task of posting my first blog and after pondering what I'd talk about, it came to me rather naturally. To be precise, Hurricane Igor brought forth my first topic of discussion. Yes, disasters. Or disaster preparedness to be more precise. The other day while on a personal visit to Igor-stricken Bonavista, a friend brought up the commonly-posed challenge to me, and borne was my first blog. Here's the gist of the conversation:
"My stuff got wet in the basement, my photos and albums and family memorabilia. It's all ruined"
"Maybe to be on the safe side for next time, move that important stuff upstairs to where floods would happen last. And keep in mind that they may not be ruined to the point where we can't save them for you"
"I don't have the space"
"Maybe putting them in tupperwares would help?"
"My buddy used tupperwares and they tipped over and water got in. Really now, in the end, there's really nothing you can do to prevent this from happening, is there?...you say you can save the wet stuff?!".
To be fair and not to appear flippant, Igor hit many households severely and one can really sympathize with the general feelings of pessimism that it generated post-storm. And no one wants to hear my Pollyanna talk on "trying our hardest" when they're rummaging through the remains of their house and life-long work. My object in bringing up that discussion is to say, yes, you're right, we cannot prevent natural disasters from happening. HOWEVER, we can TRY and MINIMIZE the impact that the disaster will have on our collections and personal belongings, for the next time. No one is really going to take the time to think of these things while a disaster is happening. Nor should they when families and homes come first. So let's try and make this easier on ourselves, and think PREVENTIVE. The sum of a few simple acts will make a huge difference in the end, like prioritizing what's most important to us (e.g. those precious photographs, the love letters, your favorite book), making space for those important things, giving them plastic containers if they have to stay in the basement, and putting the containers on shelves (so they don't tip over!) as a starting point.
And to continue to be fair, no, my friend didn't know that "wet stuff" can potentially be saved or to whom she should go to for that help. So here it is and my apparent next task - to let others know of these few simple acts, to let others know who is out there to help, and to help facilitate this network of information. I'll be posting some more preventive measures through this blog each month, as well as the "what-to-do-if's" that follow the unpredictable, like the "wet stuff". Keep posted to the ANLA website as we develop an Emergency Response Contact directory of people who can help with advice and response in your area. In the meantime, think about and prioritize the "important" items in your collection or personal belongings. Then the first step will be taken care of...
Regards,
Miki
Preservation Advisor
So I was given the task of posting my first blog and after pondering what I'd talk about, it came to me rather naturally. To be precise, Hurricane Igor brought forth my first topic of discussion. Yes, disasters. Or disaster preparedness to be more precise. The other day while on a personal visit to Igor-stricken Bonavista, a friend brought up the commonly-posed challenge to me, and borne was my first blog. Here's the gist of the conversation:
"My stuff got wet in the basement, my photos and albums and family memorabilia. It's all ruined"
"Maybe to be on the safe side for next time, move that important stuff upstairs to where floods would happen last. And keep in mind that they may not be ruined to the point where we can't save them for you"
"I don't have the space"
"Maybe putting them in tupperwares would help?"
"My buddy used tupperwares and they tipped over and water got in. Really now, in the end, there's really nothing you can do to prevent this from happening, is there?...you say you can save the wet stuff?!".
To be fair and not to appear flippant, Igor hit many households severely and one can really sympathize with the general feelings of pessimism that it generated post-storm. And no one wants to hear my Pollyanna talk on "trying our hardest" when they're rummaging through the remains of their house and life-long work. My object in bringing up that discussion is to say, yes, you're right, we cannot prevent natural disasters from happening. HOWEVER, we can TRY and MINIMIZE the impact that the disaster will have on our collections and personal belongings, for the next time. No one is really going to take the time to think of these things while a disaster is happening. Nor should they when families and homes come first. So let's try and make this easier on ourselves, and think PREVENTIVE. The sum of a few simple acts will make a huge difference in the end, like prioritizing what's most important to us (e.g. those precious photographs, the love letters, your favorite book), making space for those important things, giving them plastic containers if they have to stay in the basement, and putting the containers on shelves (so they don't tip over!) as a starting point.
And to continue to be fair, no, my friend didn't know that "wet stuff" can potentially be saved or to whom she should go to for that help. So here it is and my apparent next task - to let others know of these few simple acts, to let others know who is out there to help, and to help facilitate this network of information. I'll be posting some more preventive measures through this blog each month, as well as the "what-to-do-if's" that follow the unpredictable, like the "wet stuff". Keep posted to the ANLA website as we develop an Emergency Response Contact directory of people who can help with advice and response in your area. In the meantime, think about and prioritize the "important" items in your collection or personal belongings. Then the first step will be taken care of...
Regards,
Miki
Preservation Advisor
