Salvage at a Glance

By Betty Walsh
British Columbia Information Management Services

	*Material*	*Priority*	*Handling Precautions*	*Packing Method*	*Drying Method*
Paper Documents & Manuscripts
	Stable media	Freeze or dry within 48 hours.	Don't separate single sheets.	Interleave between folders and pack in milk crates or cartons.	Air, vacuum, or freeze dry.
	Soluble inks (felt pens, colored pens, ball point pens)	Immediately freeze or dry.	Do not blot.	Interleave between folders and pack in milk crates or cartons.	Air or freeze dry.
Maps & Plans
	Stable media	Freeze or dry within 48 hours.	Use extra caution if folded or rolled.	Pack in map drawers, bread trays, flat boxes, on heavy cardboard or poly covered plywood.	Air or freeze dry.
	Soluble media Maps and plans by photoreproductive processes Hand colored maps	Immediately freeze or dry.	Do not blot.	Interleave between folders and pack as above.	Air or freeze dry.
	Drafting linens	Immediately freeze or dry.	Avoid pressure - inks can smear away.	Pack like maps in containers lined with plastic.	Air or freeze dry. Air dry by separating sheets and interleaving.
	Maps on coated papers	Immediately freeze or dry.		Pack like maps in containers lined with plastic.	Freeze drying preferred.
Books
	Books and pamphlets	Freeze or dry within 48 hours.	Do not open or close, do not separate covers.	Separate with freezer paper, pack spine down in milk crate or cardboard box 1 layer deep.	Air, vacuum, or freeze dry.
	Leather and vellum bindings	Immediately dry; or freeze if many books.	Do not open or close, do not separate covers.	Separate with freezer paper, pack spine down in milk crate or cardboard box 1 layer deep.	Air dry.
	Books and periodicals with coated papers	Immediately freeze or dry.	Do not open or close, do not separate covers.	Keep wet; pack spine down in containers lined with garbage bags.	Freeze drying preferred. Air dry by fanning pages and interleaving.
Parchment & Vellum Manuscripts
		Immediately freeze or dry.		Interleave between folders. Pack oversize materials flat.	Air or freeze dry. Do not freeze dry gilded or illuminated manuscripts.
Works of Art on Paper
	Prints and drawings with stable media	Freeze or dry within 48 hours.	Don't separate single sheets.	Interleave between folders and pack in milk crates or cartons.	Air, vacuum, or freeze dry.
	Oversize prints and drawings	Freeze or dry within 48 hours.	Use extra caution if folded or rolled.	Pack in map drawers, bread trays, flat boxes, on heavy cardboard or poly covered plywood.	Damp - air or freeze dry. Wet - freeze drying preferred.
	Framed prints and drawings	Freeze or dry within 48 hours.	Handle with care - glass.	Unframe if possible, then pack as above.	Once unframed and unmatted, air or freeze dry.
	Soluble Media Watercolors, soluble inks, and hand colored prints	Immediately freeze or dry.	Do not blot.	Interleave between folders and pack in milk crates or cartons.	Air or freeze dry.
	Coated papers (e.g., posters)	Immediately freeze or dry.		Keep wet in containers lined with garbage bags.	Freeze drying preferred. Air dry by separating pages and interleaving.
Paintings
		Immediately dry.	Drain and carry horizontally.	Face up without touching paint layer	Air dry. See Instructions.
Computer Media
	Tapes	Immediately rinse off tapes soaked by dirty water. Dry within 48 hours if paper boxes and labels; otherwise, tapes can stay wet for several days. Do not freeze.	Do not touch magnetic media with bare hands. Handle open reel tapes by hubs or reel.	Keep tapes wet in plastic bags. Pack vertically in plastic crate or tub.	Air dry or test vacuum drying without heat.
	Floppy Disks	Immediately pack. Do not freeze.	Do not touch disk surface with bare hands.	Keep wet. Pack vertically in plastic bags or tubs of cold water.	Air dry.
Compact Discs & CD ROMs
		Immediately dry discs. Dry paper enclosures within 48 hours.	Do not scratch the surface.	Pack vertically in crates or cardboard cartons.	Air dry.
Sound and Video Recordings
	Sound and Videotapes	Immediately rinse off tapes soaked by dirty water. Dry within 48 hours if paper boxes and labels; otherwise, tapes can stay wet for several days. Do not freeze.	Do not touch magnetic media with bare hands.	Keep tapes wet in plastic bags. Pack vertically in plastic crate or tub.	Air dry or test vacuum drying without heat.
	Shellac and Acetate Discs	Immediately dry. Dry enclosures within 48 hours.	Discs are very fragile. Hold discs by their edges. Avoid shocks.	Pack vertically in ethafoam-padded crates.	Air dry, preferably with a record cleaning machine.
	Vinyl Discs	Dry within 48 hours. Freezing is untested; if it is necessary, freeze at above -18° C (0° F). Freeze or dry enclosures within 48 hours.	Hold discs by their edges. Avoid shocks.	Pack vertically in ethafoam-padded crates.	Air dry, preferably with a record cleaning machine.
Black & White Prints
	Albumen prints	Freeze or dry within 48 hours.	Do not touch binder with bare hands.	Interleave between groups of photographs.	Air dry; thaw and air dry.
	Matte and glossy collodion prints	Freeze or dry within 48 hours.	Avoid abrasion. Do not touch binder with bare hands.		Air dry; thaw and air dry; or freeze dry.
	Silver gelatin printing out and developing out papers	Freeze or dry within 48 hours.	Do not touch emulsion with bare hands.	Keep wet. Pack in plastic bags inside boxes.	Order of preference: 1) Air dry, 2) thaw and air dry, 3) freeze dry. Do not vacuum dry.
	Carbon prints and Woodburytypes	Immediately freeze or dry.	Handle carefully - swelling of binder.	Horizontally.	Air dry or thaw and air dry.
	Photomechanical prints (e.g., collotypes, photogravures) Cyanotypes	Freeze or dry within 48 hours.	Do not separate single sheets.	Interleave every 2" and pack in boxes or crates.	Air dry or freeze dry.
Color Photographs
	Dye transfer prints	Package to prevent damage - recovery rate is poor. Immediately dry.	Do not touch emulsion.	Transport horizontally.	Air dry face up.
	Chromogenic prints and negatives	Freeze or dry within 48 hours.	Do not touch binder with bare hands.	Keep wet. Pack in plastic bags inside boxes.	Order of preference: 1) Air dry, 2) thaw and air dry, 3) freeze dry. Do not vacuum dry.
Cased Photographs
	Ambrotypes Pannotypes	Recovery rate is low. Immediately dry.	Handle with care - glass supports and extremely fragile binder.	Horizontally in a padded container.	Air dry face up. Never freeze.
	Daguerreotypes	Immediately dry.	Handle with care - fragile surface, cover glass.	Horizontally in a padded container.	Air dry face up. Never freeze.
	Tintypes	Immediately dry.	Handle with care - fragile binder.	Horizontally.	Air dry. Never freeze.
Negatives
	Wet collodion glass plates	Recovery rate is low. Immediately dry.	Handle with care - glass supports and fragile binder.	Horizontally in a padded container.	Air dry face up. Never freeze.
	Gelatin dry plate glass negatives	Freeze or dry within 48 hours.	Handle with care - glass.	Keep wet. Pack in plastic bags, vertically in a padded container.	Air drying preferred; or thaw and air dry; freeze dry.
	Deteriorated nitrates with soluble binders	Immediately freeze or dry. Recovery rate may be low.	Do not blot.	Horizontally.	Air dry; thaw and air dry; test freeze drying.
	Deteriorated acetates	Immediately freeze or dry. Recovery rate is low.	Handle carefully - swelling of emulsion.	Horizontally.	Air dry; thaw and air dry; test freeze drying.
	Polyester based film, nitrates and acetates in good condition	Freeze or dry within 48 hours.	Do not touch emulsion with bare hands.	Keep wet. Pack in small plastic bags inside boxes.	Order of preference: 1) Air dry, 2) thaw and air dry, 3) freeze dry. Do not vacuum dry.
Transparencies
	Lantern slides, silver gelatin	Freeze or dry within 48 hours.	Handle with care - loose binding tapes and glass.	Vertically in a padded container.	Air drying preferred; thaw, and air dry.
Color Transparencies
	Additive color transparencies (most are glass) Autochromes, Agfacolor, Dufaycolor	Package to prevent damage - recovery rate is very poor. Immediately dry.	Handle with care - loose binding tapes and glass.	Horizontally in a padded container.	Air dry. Never Freeze
	Chromogenic color transparencies Mounted color slides and sheet films	Freeze or dry within 48 hours.	Handle by mounts or edges.	Keep wet. Pack in plastic bags inside box.	Order of preference: 1) Air dry in mounts if possible, 2) thaw and air dry, 3) freeze dry. Do not vacuum dry.
Motion Pictures
		Rewash and dry within 48 hours.		Keep wet. Pack in plastic pails or cardboard cartons lined with garbage bags.	Arrange with a film processor to rewash and dry.
Microforms
	Microfilm rolls	Rewash and dry within 48 hours.	Do not remove from boxes; hold carton together with rubber bands.	Keep wet. Pack (in blocks of 5) in a cardboard box lined with garbage bags.	Arrange with a microfilm processor to rewash and dry.
	Aperture cards	Freeze or dry within 48 hours.		Keep wet. Pack in plastic bags inside boxes.	Air dry, or thaw and air dry.
	Jacketed microfilm	Freeze or dry within 48 hours.		Keep wet. Pack in plastic bags inside pail or box.	Air dry, or freeze, thaw and air dry.
	Diazo and vesicular microfiche	Freeze or dry within 48 hours.		Interleave between envelopes and pack in milk crates or cartons.	Air dry, or freeze, thaw and air dry.

Published as an insert to the WAAC Newsletter, Vol. 19, No. 2 (May 1997), Carolyn Tallent, Editor.

This chart was written as a ready reference to the BCIMS disaster plan. Originally, the chart was modeled on a table of recovery priorities written by Julia Niebuhr Eulenberg, in Handbook for the Recovery of Water Damaged Business Records (Prairie Village, Kansas: ARMA, 1986), 47-48.

In the interest of a quickly readable chart, other footnotes have not been included. The reader may consult with the text for more details on sources.

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