Disaster Resources

California Preservation Program Workshop Resource List

The CPP Resource List is used in conjunction with the Protecting Library
Collections workshops.

Disaster Mitigation Planning Assistance

The website is a joint project of the California Preservation Program and Michigan State University Libraries and the Center for Great Lakes Culture. The heart of this site is a searchable database of disaster supplies, recovery experts, services, and other resources. Since knowing who to call for help and where to obtain services and supplies are essential components of disaster planning, this database is a particularly important one. It is searchable by both Northern and Southern California.

You can add resources to the database, helping to make it a more valuable tool for this region, or you can send new entries or corrections to info@calpreservation.org

In addition to the database, this site offers sample disaster plans, as well as worldwide disaster resources under the Resources menu option.

Conservation OnLine's Disaster Preparedness and Response

• A selection of core disaster resources arranged by organization/author.
• A number of actual disaster plans from a variety of institutions, mainly libraries. These can serve as models for your own institution's planning, providing examples of both organizational strategies for disaster preparedness and response as well as information about handling a wide variety of types of library materials.
• case histories of library, museum, and archive disasters, including the Lessons of Recovery, a report on the massive flood at Colorado State University
• A selection of other documents on disaster-related topics.

The Heritage Emergency National Task Force

Formed in 1995 to help libraries and archives, museums, historical societies, and historic sites better protect their collections and buildings from natural disasters and other emergencies. The Task Force promotes preparedness and mitigation and provides expert information on response and salvage to institutions and the public.

An excellent tool from this group, and available for purchase in several languages, is the Emergency Response and Salvage Wheel. Or call toll-free 1-888-979-2233. An interactive version is also available.

American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC)

AIC is the national membership organization of conservation professionals dedicated to preserving the art and historic artifacts of our cultural heritage for future generations. Providing a forum for the exchange of ideas on conservation, AIC advances the practice and promotes the importance of the preservation of cultural property by coordinating the exchange of knowledge, research, and publications.

In a disaster response and salvage, AIC can provide the names of experts in the conservation of paintings, paper, books, photographs, textiles, decorative arts, sculpture, and wooden artifacts as well as architectural, archaeological, natural science, and ethnographic materials.

Under Disaster Recovery you will find topics including:

• The Care of Water-Damaged Family Heirlooms and Other Valuables
• Emergency! If You're First ...(protection of artifacts / basic drying procedures in the event of water)
• Salvaging Water-Damaged Textiles
• Saving Photographs After the Flood
• Salvage at a Glance

California Disaster Resources

A Power Point Presentation by Walter Henry of Stanford University on disaster resources available to California librarians and archivists.

University of Washington Libraries Earthquake Damage Pictures

Images depicting the effects on library collections of the 6.8 Puget Sound earthquake, Feb. 28, 2001 . The quake knocked tens of thousands of books off the shelves and damaged stack ranges.

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