This is going to be a short post because I’m in the middle of an emergency and I really need your help.
My mother-in-law passed away at the end of March. Not of coronavirus, if you’re wondering. She was in Alaska and we’re in North Carolina, so we’ve been trying to take care of everything from here. We had two huge boxes of her papers and her daughter’s effects (both daughters are deceased) sent to our house. They were delivered yesterday, but nobody knocked or told us. They sat on our porch for at least 12 hours. Unfortunately it was raining the entire time. One box was standing in an inch of water when I found it.
We won’t be able to salvage all of it, there’s too much damaged, but I want to save at least some of it for my husband’s kids and grandkids. If any salvage experts, archivists, etc have any ideas, please let me know. PLEASE don’t point me toward salvage documents — I know about those. I’m looking for advice like, “Don’t bother with the posterboard items, they’re hosed,” or “You can keep your Kodak slides from getting water spots by doing x.”
Thank you.
NEW RESOURCES
National Indigenous Times: Remote school Nawarddeken Academy supports young student’s app development. “Carefully weaving culture and technology, 14-year-old Natasha Yibarbuk has created three interactive, bilingual apps teaching Nawarddeken culture. Yibarbuk is a senior student at the Nawarddeken Academy, a unique bicultural school in the remote community of Kabulwarnamyo. The community sits within the Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area in Western Arnhem Land, Northern Territory.”
Pasadena Now: Pasadena Museum of History’s Black History Collection Is Now Available Online. “The overall project involves digitization of approximately 17,000 items, including paper materials, historic photographs, video recordings, and other unique items from collections held by six community archives in the L.A. as Subject research alliance. The project will add to the visibility of collections that document underrepresented community histories.”
TWEAKS AND UPDATES
CNET: Facebook tests app for free web browsing on a mobile device, within limits. “Facebook is testing in Peru a new app called Discover that lets people browse text on any mobile website for free for a certain amount of time, a move that highlights the social media giant’s ambitions to expand internet access globally.”
AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD
Derry Now: Derry-based ‘Troubles’ archive resource set to be frozen because of a lacking of funding. “The Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN) contains information and source material on the Troubles and politics in Northern Ireland from 1968 to the present. The CAIN is regarded as the ‘go-to’ resource on the Troubles by academics, researchers and journalists from throughout the world. The archive and its staff are based at the Magee campus of the Ulster University. However, the university said last year that it was reviewing the future of the archive due to a lack of funding.”
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Put items in open bags or boxes and into the freezer to keep until you are ready to deal with them.
General advice in how to deal with them can be found here:
https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1537903646474-713c46c9f75fc24d3184cfc95ab98260/Flood_FIMA_Fact_Sheet_2015_508_rev_092418.pdf
[It’s got lots of links listed for more info.]
Barbara
Yes freeze them if possible. Use dental floss if you can try to get things apart. The FEMA article is good information.
“I am certain that you have had the good sense to get everything out of the wet box, and spread it out on towels to air dry. Watch out for any mould growth, and if anything important (that you wish to save) develops mould, place it in a plastic bag and into the freezer. A conservator can kill the mould and reverse any staining.
As for undulations, warping and distortion there are ways of flattening the documents. You will need to humidify them in order to relax the fibers. Use a large plastic container with a lid. Place a wet towel, at room temperature, flat against the bottom of the container. Place a plastic grid, that is at least 0.5 inches thick (sold as “Eggcrate or Plaskolite Light Diffuser” at hardware stores, cut to size with wire cutters) over the wet towel. Place the documents onto the plastic grid, making certain the wet towel does not touch the documents. You could probably get away with stacking about ten documents at a time. Place the lid over top and leave them sit for two hours, or until they feel slightly damp. Remove the documents, place them on a flat surface, place Plexiglas sheet or plastic cutting board over top of them (do not use wood or metal board), and add some weight overtop – about 5lbs or so should be enough. Let it sit like this for about a week and then check them, if not flat, let them sit for even longer. Do not use this technique if there is any chance of mould being present.
Any staining that has occurred due to the water damage can be reversed by a trained Professional Conservator. The quicker you have this done, the more successful the treatment will be; try to have any staining addressed within one year. This could get expensive, so pick and choose which items are most important. Stains contain products that will deteriorate the archival materials.
You mentioned slides and seem to have a question about avoiding water spot. You could wipe the down with a Kim Wipe (or lint free tissue – not facial tissue) slightly dampened with 99% iso propyl alchol. Do not use rubbing alcohol, or disinfectant wipe; these contain impurities that will cause damage. A much better cleaning solution for film based materials is tetra chloroethylene, however, you would require a ventilation unit (not just sitting outside) and thick nitrile gloves to work with this chemical.
If you have any specific questions, or would like to explore the options of using a conservator, I would be happy to provide advice – kyla@bookandpaperconservation.com.”
So very sorry to hear about the added grief from the delivery left standing outside in the rain (!!). Good luck on recovery work, and *thank you* for all your continued help, especially also with the Covid-19 info.
Pam Rolph