services
disaster assistance
24/7 Emergency Phone Assistance
As part of its Field Service program, NEDCC offers an emergency assistance program for institutions and individuals with damaged paper-based collections.
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| Biloxi Public Library - September 2005 Photo: Christine Wiseman - Georgia Archives |
NEDCC staff members are available 24 hours a day to provide telephone advice when a disaster occurs. This service is provided at no charge thanks to a grant to NEDCC from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). This service does not normally include on-site assistance.
Information provided includes advice on drying wet collections and dealing with damage from fire, pests, or mold. Referrals to commercial disaster recovery service providers experienced with library and archives collections can also be provided.
Do You Have a Collections-Threatening Emergency?
Call (978) 470-1010, day or night, seven days a week. After Center hours, you will be referred to a second telephone number to reach a staff member. Please do NOT request disaster assistance via email, since it is not monitored 24 hours a day.
Sources of Additional Information
NEDCC's Emergency Management Preservation Leaflets
Other disaster planning and recovery resources on the Internet include:
- National Task Force on Emergency Response, Heritage Preservation
- Tips for Water Damage to Family Heirlooms and Other Valuables, prepared by the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) and the National Institute for Conservation (NIC)
- Salvage Operations for Water-Damaged Collections, by Betty Walsh
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
- Illinois Cooperative Extension Service Disaster Resources Home Page
- National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA)
- Conservation OnLine has a section on disaster planning and recovery with additional links.
- The Inland Empire Libraries Disaster Response Network (IELDRN)
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The dPlan button above is available for free. Place the button on your homepage to encourage your web visitors to create an institutional disaster plan. For more information on the dPlan button, email Julie Carlson, |
dPlan™: The Online Disaster-Planning Tool
A Free Template for Writing Disaster Plans
NEDCC and the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) have created dPlan, a free online program to help institutions write comprehensive disaster plans. dPlan provides an easy-to-use template that allows museums, libraries, archives, and other cultural institutions of all sizes to develop a customized plan that includes:
- disaster response procedures
- salvage priorities
- preventive maintenance schedules
- current contact information for staff and emergency personnel
- sources of emergency supplies and services
- insurance checklists
- electronic data backup and restoration procedure
dPlan can serve the needs of small institutions without in-house preservation staff, library and museum systems that need to develop separate but related plans for multiple locations, and state agencies that need to structure training programs on disaster planning.
Each institution’s password-protected plan is stored on a secure server. An automatic e-mail is sent every six months with a reminder to update the plan.
To use dPlan or to view the introductory demo, go to www.dplan.org.
Development of dPlan was funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training.
For more information, contact
Lori Foley of NEDCC,
or Gregor Trinkaus-Randall of MBLC,