19/05/2019
RECOVERY
RECOVERING AND
RESTORING
RECORDS – AFTER
THE DISASTER
BY ESTRELLA M. DOMINGO
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DISASTER RECOVERY
• The recovery “phase is that of
establishing and carrying out a program
to restore to a stable and usable
condition both the disaster site and the
damaged materials”.
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PERSPECTIVES ON RECORDS RECOVERY
• Recovery covers the activity of
salvaging any damaged objects and
possibly the building - and returning to
normal.
• Depending upon the impact, the
recovery may take some time.
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• the response and actions
the organization takes
after a disaster occurs
• includes all operations
after the initial response
including restoration of the
collections and/or services
PERSPECTIVES ON
RECORDS RECOVERY
• Taking long term actions to salvage
and restore collection material and
affected areas
• Restoring the records to a condition in
which they can be accessed
• Resuming normal business
operations, reconstructing vital and
other important records
SPEED IS ESSENTIAL …
• Within 48 to 72 hours fungal growth
begins, and after five days damp or wet
paper records begin to chemically break
down
• Mold digests and stains paper,
sometimes irreversibly, and poses a
serious health risk to people working
with the records.
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TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE

• Documents and photographs stick

together
• Inks run and feather
- Many inks are water soluble and will run when
the document becomes wet
- They will continue to run until the document is
dried out again.

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RECORDS RECOVERY

Assessment Procedures
RECORDS RECOVERY • Prioritize damaged documents to be
restored in order to protect the most
critical documents from further
damage. Separate those records that
are of critical importance from those
that can wait.

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RECORDS RECOVERY WATER DAMAGE- PAPER

Documentation • Deterioration of paper records will begin

• Destruction of any material should be
documented for legal and insurance
purposes. Use a disposal certificate
to indicate what is beyond recovery
and why.
within two to three hours. Action must
be taken within the first 24 hours to
prevent mold, fungal or bacterial
growth.
–The main short term goal should be
to remove the paper from the wet
environment and freeze it until it can
be dried out. Freezing will preserve
the paper up to six years if necessary.

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TYPES OF DAMAGE AND FOR WATER-DAMAGED

CORRESPONDING RESPONSE
• Work with the wettest records first, usually
those on the bottom shelf or drawer or
closest to the sprinkler system or leaking
pipes.
• Remove metal fasteners or clips to prevent
the formation of rust.
– Maintain list of all records removed.
BOOKS AND DOCUMENTS
• Remove material from the source of the
water
• Turn off heat and circulate air
• Remove water
• Check the value of the materials
damaged
• Separate damp books and documents
from saturated books and documents

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FOR WATER-DAMAGED FREEZING

BOOKS AND DOCUMENTS
• Insert waxed sheets between
bonded/finished/photographic pages
• Pack the material
• Maintain order and sequencing when
packing
• Freeze or dry within 48 hours
• To stabilize water-damaged materials,
freeze at temperatures below 20
degrees Fahrenheit.
• Freezing retains records in the condition
in which found, and prevents further
deterioration while records await
treatment.

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FREEZING

FREEZING: WATER DAMAGE

• By freezing, paper that has become
• Freeze within 6-8
wet, the mechanical disintegration of it
hours - in particular,
will end, ink will stop dissolving and the
books with coated
potential for mold and fungus growth
paper text blocks
ceases.
• Store and separate
• Once frozen, paper can stay in that
items with freezer
state indefinitely and transported via
paper
any refrigerated means.
• Do not try to open
books or separate
pages!

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Mold-infested collection materials in the freezer

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FREEZING: WATER DAMAGED FREEZING: WATER DAMAGED

DOCUMENTS DOCUMENTS

• Wrap wet books or folders of documents

with clear plastic bag/wax paper
• Place inside a commercial or chest-type
freezer (Make sure the temperature is -
10 degrees C freezing point).
• Freeze the document until scheduled
basic treatment.
• Thaw slowly when ready to dry.

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FOR WATER-DAMAGED BOOKS

DO NOT…
• Open or close books
• Separate single sheets
• Press wet books
• Wipe off mud or dirt
• Remove book covers or separate
materials
•Do not expose books to dry under the sun

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COATED PAPERS INTERLEAVING

• Most vulnerable to complete loss • Placing something between the layers
• Should not be permitted to begin drying of (something)
• Short period between removal and • Inserting pages, between the pages:
freezing "books interleaved with tracing paper"

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INTERLEAVING
INTERLEAVING
Partially wet/Damp materials

• If coated papers are

separable, interleave
with silicone release
paper or reemay.
• Coated (glossy) paper sticks together • Oversize books must
permanently once it has gotten wet and lie flat—interleave
begins to dry. pages with blotter.
Change blotter often, as
• Coated paper must be interleaved with
needed.
non-stick material between every page,
or frozen right away while still wet.

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INTERLEAVING

USE OF REEMAY

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INTERLEAVING

Methods of Drying
METHODS OF DRYING
• Air drying
• Dehumidification
INTERLEAVING • Freeze drying
• Thermal drying

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AIR DRYING WATER DAMAGE :

• The main objective in
the air drying of wet
files and sheets is to
remove water as
efficiently as possible
and, at the same time,
control structure
distortion, water
staining, and the
rusting of staples.
AIR DRYING
• With fans
• With blotters
• Hanging
Spread the contents of a
• Interleaving with paper towels and
damp box, in order, on clean
paper to air dry. other blank absorbent papers

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AIR DRYING WITH FANS

AIR DRYING WITH FANS

• Use fans but only to circulate the air.

Don’t have them blowing directly on the
drying objects.

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AIR DRYING
AIR DRYING

Drying on a flat surface using fan

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AIR DRYING AIR DRYING

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AIR DRYING AIR DRYING

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AIR DRYING

• Once the paper is only damp (no longer

soaked), a hair dryer can be moved
over the pages to expedite further
drying.

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DEHUMIDIFICATION
DEHUMIDIFICATION
Dehumidification is accomplished by • Good for large
pumping dry air into the building and quantities
pumping damp air out. • Can be done onsite
• useful for slightly damp records. • Must be done by
• records are dried, while still on their vendor
shelves, by large dehumidifiers that are • Area sealed. Dry/warm
brought on site • air pumped into area.
Disadvantages: it is a very noisy process; • Paper monitored
dried records will be physically distorted. closely
Photo: A CHR News/Munters

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DEHUMIDIFICATION

• Dehumidification includes
putting the documents in
an enclosed space with
fans and dehumidifiers.
• As the fans circulate the
air, the dehumidifiers will
extract the moisture from
the damaged paper.
This is the best option for people whose
documents were not badly damaged.

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FREEZE DRYING

FREEZE DRYING
• Best method for large
quantities
• Materials frozen, placed
in vacuum chamber.
• Materials dried below
• Freeze drying is a beneficial technique that freezing.
allows items to be dried through the process
• Must be done by
of sublimation, allowing water in its solid-state
to be converted directly to vapor. This process
vendor.
limits the distortion, cockling and irregular • Very little warping, etc.
shrinkage of records. Photo: Munters

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FREEZE DRYING FREEZE DRYING

• The frozen documents are placed in the

freeze dryer and will remain there
throughout the drying period.

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FREEZE DRYING
THERMAL DRYING

• Items not frozen but dried at

temperature of 30-72 degrees F
• Much warping
• Never use for items with long term
value

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• Good for books and records that are TREATMENT

slightly to extensively wet Materials can TECHNIQUES
be placed into chamber either wet or
frozen • CLEANING
• Vacuum is drawn, heat is introduced, - Surface deposits and mud
and the materials are dried just above o by the use of brush, eraser,
32 degrees F vacuum cleaner
• Materials stay wet while they dry • WASHING
• Often produces extreme distortion in
books
• Not recommended for coated paper
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CLEANING CLEANING BY
USING COTTON

Use of Soft Brush

• Brush document with outward strokes
starting from the center

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CLEANING
WASHING
• Documents or books with dirt or mud or
whose pages have stuck together
should be washed with either spraying
with filtered water or immersion

Use of Art Gum Eraser • Drain documents and perform the

• Apply circular motion in cleaning the applicable air drying procedure/s
document (wear gloves, mask and
apron)

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WASHING WASHING

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WASHING WASHING

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WASHING

• Place each document between sheets

of reemay for support and immersed it
Reemay support in a bath

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WASHING

• Filtered water is used for first immersion •The

Thedocument
documentisis immersed
immersed inin filtered water,
filtered water,
Filtered water is used for first immersion which
whichreduces staining,
reduces and then
staining, and inthenan alkaline
in an
solution
alkalinetosolution
neutralise
to any remaining
neutralize anyacidity.
remaining
acidity.

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CONSERVATION TREATMENTS
AND PROCEDURES
TEARS
• Mending using Tissue Strips and Methyl
Cellulose (MC) Paste
• Place strip/s of Japanese tissue paper on
verso (backside) of torn document
• Apply thin MC paste on the tissue using
small brush (dissolve 20g MC powder in 1
liter distilled/filtered water)
• Let dry JAPANESE TISSUE REPAIR

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REBINDING FOR WET CDs & DVDs

• Dry using a soft, lint-free cloth

• Dry by wiping from center of disk to
outside edge
• Clean, if necessary, with a gentle
soap-and-water solution

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DISC DO’S
• Rinse the disc with the cleanest
available water.
• If the center label on a vinyl disc is
loose or has washed off identify the disc
and label as belonging to each other so
these do not become separated.
• Once you have rinsed the discs air
dry the discs in a dust free
environment
• Have vinyl discs properly cleaned
before playing them.
• CD’s and DVD’s that you have the
rights to copy (i.e. non commercially
produced) should be duplicated as
soon as possible.

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DISC DO-NOTS FOR WET PHOTOS AND

• Do not scrub or wipe acoustic (vinyl)
discs to remove any mud or debris that
does not rinse off easily, scrubbing will
scratch the disc.
• Do not scrub or wipe the label side of a
CD, the label may be made from
materials that are affected by water and
wiping may damage the label which
actually helps protect the most
vulnerable part of the CD.
MICROFILM
• Fill water-tight containers with cold water
• Submerge wet items and secure against
movement
• Make sure water is at least 1 inch above
packed materials
• Ship to film processing lab

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PHOTOGRAPHIC PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIALS

(prints, negatives, transparencies)
MATERIALS
(prints, negatives, transparencies)

• Do not freeze photographs unless you

have no other alternative – freezing
may damage the surface of the photo.
• Keep immersed in cold water.
• Air-dry flat or hang on clothes line
within 48 hours; 72 hours for negatives
and transparencies.

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MOLD REMOVAL

Using a HEPA vacuum and Using a dry cleaning sponge to

micro tools to remove mold. remove mold. Dry or surface cleaning

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FIRE DAMAGE SALVAGE TECHNIQUES

Fire-damaged records
• Remove soot and smoke deposits
• Neutralize odor
• Duplicate charred or heat damaged
documents

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• Dealing with Char damage

• Materials that are only charred or soiled by
soot but not damaged by water do not require
immediate attention
Vacuum as much loose material up as
possible (again being careful not to suck
up book parts that are important to
keep).
• Trim charred edges by using paper shears,
razor blades, or scissors – keep the vacuum
cleaner running nearby as you work.

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• For charred records that are not wet,

assess whether or not they are
completely obliterated or just have
charred edges.
• If the information is recoverable,
photocopying of the document is the
best method of recovery.
• Handle the records as little as
possible.

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• Smoke and Soot • Remove soot and smoke using soft

o Wear latex or nitrile gloves before
handling items covered in smoke or
soot; hand oils will drive smoke and
soot particles into items and cause
more damage
brush and fine sand paper (wear gloves,
gas mask and lab gown/apron)
• Remove greasy residues with ethyl
alcohol provided that the ink will not
bleed

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• Don’t touch! Soot, mud and dirt is

easily ground into the matrix of paper
fibers.
• Let mud dry before trying to remove.
• Gently vacuum off soot, mud or dirt
• After vacuuming, use a “pet sponge”
or “soot sponge” (available at the
hardware store) to gently lift soot,
mud or dirt residue from the surface.

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• Blot (do not rub) smoke/soot off with a FIRED-DAMAGED DOCUMENTS:

vulcanized rubber sponge APPROACH TO RECOVERY
• Scan all important documents that are
recoverable and not too gritty for the
scanning process.
• Stabilize damaged documents to
prevent further deterioration. (Typically
those documents are vacuum sealed,
frozen and stored cold.)

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REDUCING ODORS
REDUCING ODORS
• To speed it up, set large flat pans of
• Set up as many activated charcoal and/or baking soda
fans as possible, around the room.
turn up the • Replace baking soda/charcoal every 8-
ventilation system. 12 hours.
Open doors and
• Your nose will know when to stop –
windows (if the
then do it for another 24-48 hours.
area is secure) and
let it blow for as
long as possible.

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PREPARE THE SHELVES Records Storage Areas

• Shelves that have held • Areas where records are stored should
wet records should be be thoroughly repaired, sterilized and
sanitized before replacing dry before records are returned to them.
records on them. Disinfectant should be used on all
• Wash shelves and floor in surfaces.
affected area with a weak • Inspections of the damaged area for
solution of sodium mold, rust and other damage should
hypochlorite (common (Dilute the bleach with enough continue for at least a year after the
water so that the bleach can be just
bleach). barely smelled.
disaster.

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EVALUATE DISASTER AND REPORTING

RECOVERY ACTIVITIES • A description of the effect on:
oPeople
• Inventory recovery supplies and oRecords
replace used supplies oFunction
• Evaluate performance of suppliers and oBuilding
recovery services and replace vendors • A description on how the occurrence
that performed poorly; and was dealt with
• Monitor affected areas and records for
• Recommendation for future incidents
signs of continuing problems
and changes to the disaster recovery
plan

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• A letter of thanks should be sent to all

individuals and agencies that
participated in the response and
recovery operations.

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