Emergency Response and Salvage for Cultural Institutions

From Past Participants

“Workshops like these should be an essential practice for any memory repository professionals and their most ardent volunteers and board members. I’ve already suggested this workshop to some of my colleagues should they get the chance.”

“It should be mandatory for all GLAM workers.”

“This is an excellent, structured way to start forming regional relationships.”

“The training is invaluable. We’ve been prepping an emergency preparedness plan to be prepared for an emergency but without the training of what to do when things happen, it’s just a plan.”

“The hands-on portion of the workshop was essential for me to understand the realities of preventing additional damage.”

Delta Workshop

Location: Douglas J. Husband Discovery Centre, Delta

Date delivered: November 16-17, 2023

Victoria Workshop

Location: Royal BC Museum, Victoria

Date delivered: May 29-30, 2023

Kingston Workshop

Location: Queen’s University, Conservation Department

Date delivered: March 9-10, 2023

  

Campbell River Workshop

Location: Maritime Heritage Centre

Date delivered: February 25-26, 2023

  

Vancouver Workshop

Location: Museum of Vancouver

Date delivered: November 24-25, 2022

 

Abbotsford Workshop

Location: The Reach Gallery Museum

Date delivered: October 21-22, 2022

 

Rossland Workshop

Location: Rossland Museum & Discovery Centre

Date delivered: September 18-19, 2022

This in-person 2-day workshop was a great networking opportunity for professionals from a wide geographic area in the Southern Interior of BC, including the Kootenays. Participants expressed appreciation for the emergency response information in light of the recent wildfire threats to their communities. Several salvage techniques used to improve outcomes for water-damaged archival materials and heritage collections were demonstrated and practiced.

Prince George Workshop

Location: Two River Gallery

Date delivered: June 24-25, 2022

This in-person 2-day, hands-on workshop provided training and guidance on emergency response and collections salvage for mixed objects and archival materials impacted by water and fire. Instruction and practice on key salvage techniques helped the participants build the confidence needed to help in emergency situations. This workshop was for keepers of cultural heritage with little to no training in emergency response related to collections.

Online Workshop

Date delivered: April 18-19, 2021

This virtually facilitated two-day workshop was developed by the BC HERN and offered with support from Canadian Heritage’s Museum Assistance Program, the Kelowna Museums, and the University of British Columbia’s Public Scholar’s Initiative. The first day focused on Health & Safety, including the psychology of responders, documentation of site and collections, followed by an introduction to care and response techniques for collections salvage. The second day was dedicated to hands-on exercises using materials that have been mailed to participants in advance. Several techniques used to improve outcomes for water-damaged collections were virtually demonstrated and each participant had time to experiment with salvage options on their objects. Everyone quickly learned how much space it takes to salvage wet collections!

NYU Flooding Heritage Online Workshop – Emergency Response and Salvage Primer

Date delivered: March 12, 2021

This virtually facilitated a 4-hour workshop, presented by New York University and delivered by the British Columbia Heritage Emergency Response Network (BC HERN) provided an introduction to emergency heritage response and salvage techniques for mixed collections.

Each participant worked through the salvage of their items with the support of the group. They had a short amount of time to describe what they were seeing/experimenting with and talk through the salvage options.

AABC Online Workshop – Preservation and Disaster Planning for Archives

Date delivered: November 2020

The BC HERN and AABC delivered a virtual demonstration session where participants learned how to salvage different formats of archival records that have been damaged by water and fire. Participants then practiced what they learned through an at-home / office disaster and recovery exercise with a selection of AABC-provided archival materials. After reporting back to the workshop, the final webinar provided participants with the opportunity to discuss their results, what worked and what didn’t, ask questions and learn about the efforts of fellow workshop attendees.

 

Prince George Workshop

Location: Two River Gallery

Date delivered: September 30, 2019

This 1-day, hands-on workshop provided training and guidance on emergency response and collections salvage (mixed and archival materials). This workshop was for small museum professionals and volunteers with little to no training in responding to emergencies related to collections.