[PADG:1755] Re: water deflectors for stacks

[Ethel Hellman <hellman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Re permanent water deflectors for stacks: 
	I, too, was always under the impression that water deflectors would make
sprinkler systems less effective, until last spring's NARA preservation
conference. Research NARA has done indicates that deflectors result in a
sheet of water falling down the front of the range, providing a protective
curtain for the materials on the shelves (boxes of archival materials in
their test case). 
	If one were going to go with permanent deflectors, though, plastic seems
problematic. In the case of a fire, melted plastic would be much worse than
water!

Ethel Hellman


============================================
Ethel E. Hellman
Collections Conservator for Widener Library
Widener Library - Room D-25
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA  02138
hellman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
tele: 617/495-3494
fax: 617/495-0403