Recovery
How damaged maps and other artifacts are restored at the University of Hawai’i at manoa Hamilton Library Preservation Lab.
University of Hawai’i News
Published on July 8, 2010
The five staff members in the Preservation Department knew what to do to respond to a collection disaster. The Department also had a Paper Conservation Lab and an area for digital documentation. However, there was not a trained Paper Conservator on staff.
In January 2005, the Library invited the first group of consultants to review the damaged collections and contribute to the development of a recovery plan.
Julie Page (University of San Diego Preservation Department), and Mary Wood Lee (Paper Conservator) in foreground. Staff member Scott Reinke in background.
The consultants also included Pam Najar (New Zealand). Belfor USA had been selected as a recovery partner by the Library and they sent three people including Kirk Lively.
The maps were the first priority for treatment. Hawaii and Pacific materials remained in Hawaii for treatment in the Library’s Preservation Lab, while other maps and aerial photographs were shipped to Belfor, a disaster recovery vendor in Fort Worth. The protocol for treatment used at Belfor was developed in January with the consultants in Honolulu.
The basic treatment required rinsing the mud off of the maps and drying them in Belfor’s special freeze drying chamber.
Thirty thousand maps were treated by Belfor and returned to the Library
Rare maps selected for a Library exhibition had to be treated by paper conservators Debbie Evans and Jeffry Warda.
Treatment of maps in UHM Library Lab
Special Challenges
Fire Insurance Maps
