Collection Emergency Planning for Cultural Collections

13-14 April 2016 

I attended a two day (14 hours) small workshop  “Collection Emergency Planning for Cultural Collection” on 13 – 14 April 2016 held at Canberra Baptist Church, 11 Currie Crescent, Kingston, ACT.  This workshop of 20 participants was organised by DISACT (Disaster ACT network), in liaison with local conservation services provider “Art and Archival Pty Ltd”. The presenter of this workshop was Kim Morris (Director of Art and Archival Pty Ltd) who delivered theory and practical exercises which is useful for  Collection Managers, collection staff, Preservation/Conservation staff, Facilities (Buildings) staff, Security staff, disaster salvage teams and team leaders as they will gain knowledge and experience in implementing  and participating effectively, efficiently and confidently in all aspects of collection disaster planning and response (Art & Archival Pty Ltd, 2016). This workshop covers aspects such as:

  • Collection emergency planning
  • Collection emergency preparedness
  • Risks assessment
  • Collection emergency prevention
  • Prioritisation of collection
  • Collection emergency responses
  • Collection emergency recovery process
  • Management of collection emergencies
  • Team disaster recovery team
  • Collection emergency exercise/simulation on Day 2.

I immediately took the opportunity to enrol in this workshop when the email notification for nomination to register in this workshop arrived in my inbox as I thought it would be useful to me, as one of my jobs is maintaining the library collection and I needed to gain knowledge and practical skills in disasters preparedness, planning and knowing how to respond when disasters impact the library collections.

I gained so much insight from the presenter and other participants in this workshop as we shared experiences in how to respond to various emergencies to save the collections when disaster struck. Prior to this workshop, my knowledge about the potential risks/disasters were limited, this workshop has made me think and realise that the library and other cultural collections face many risks and emergency scenarios such as: flood, fire & smoke, earthquakes, storm, terrorists (bomb/fire), weather, sewage, water leak, poor storage & handling, mould, equipment malfunction, insect & vermin infestation, vandalism, high dust level, accident, theft, building works/alteration, and many more. This workshop also taught me how to take preventative actions, how to deal with different types of collection emergency incidents/situations and how to handle/treat and salvage different types of affected materials/collection.

The highlight of this workshop is the exercise of a hands-on disaster scenario on day 2, I had a chance to practice the theory on a simulation when water leaks from the roof and poured over the shelves and collections such as books, paintings, objects/materials made from wood and metal, vinyl records, etc. In this exercise, the participants of this workshop were divided into 4 groups such as: Salvage team, transport team, documentation team, triage team, and a team leader. From this simulation, I gained some useful tips that I can use for future references/guides such as:

  • Good coordination and communication between the team is important as the emergency responses starting from attending/assessing the situation to the long-term recovery will run smoothly.
  • The advice that I received from the presenter Kim Morris (2016) that during the emergency, to do it quickly is not always the right answer, but it is important to think clearly, process slowly and easily with good planning, modify as you go along/needed, reassess collection, good communication, also learn from other library experiences.
  • The safety and the health of the staff come first, be aware and careful of hazardous materials (sharp objects, toxic materials/chemicals, mould), it is also important to maintain mental health and good morale among staff.
  • Budget & funding is a key to collection emergency planning as the long-term recovery and restoration can be expensive therefore it is important for the library and cultural institutions to have insurance disaster collection in place.
  • The cost of emergency responses and recovery actions can be minimised by some actions such as correct handling and storage of the collection, regular check/monitoring of the collection, regular building maintenance or watching the weather prediction to prepare for the storms.

Going forward, I could see myself contributing to the development and maintenance of a good collection emergency planning/disaster plan for my current workplace with reference to several aspects on different phases/stages such as:

  • Before:
    • Preparedness: identify potential risks, assess collections to prioritise, identify resources, prepare/update/refine the plan, assign roles & responsibilities to key staff, and identifying the funding/support.
    • Preventiveness: actions to eliminate the potential risks or to reduce/minimise the risks such as regular building maintenance and repair, correct handling and storage, good housekeeping, staff training, emergency supplies and equipment are ready and stored in a strategic place.
  • During: immediate and short-term response actions such as reporting, attending, assessing, documentation, stabilise the situations effectively and safely
  • After: long term recovery actions/plan that involves treatment of the damaged materials, access and services restoration, conducting review of why the emergency happened, review the current plan and its effectiveness.

(Art & Archival Pty Ltd, 2016).

References

Art & Archival Pty Ltd. (2016). Cultural collection emergency planning: A guide to prevention, preparedness, response & recovery. Art & Archival Pty Ltd.

Art & Archival Pty Ltd. (2016). DISACT two day disaster planning for cultural collections workshop: Prevention, preparedness, response, recovery [Brochure].