Salvage Procedures for UCSD Library Materials
Initial Response
Water-damaged materials must be dealt with immediately in order to salvage them. As few
as 36-48 hours may elapse before irreparable damage begins (especially from growth of
mold). As soon as buildings are determined safe after a disaster by the Police or Fire
Department, search the collections storage areas for water.
- If water is present, immediately call the Facilities Management Help Desk, x42930 (24 hours/day)
a. To turn off
the water supply if water is flowing from pipes.
b. To provide equipment (mops, wet vacuums, extension cords, etc.) and
personnel to clean up water.
c. To turn off the heat supply to the building and turn up the air
conditioning to full capacity. By lowering the temperature, the growth of mold will be
slowed and by using the full capacity of the air conditioning to dehumidify, the rate of
drying the stacks will be increased.
Obtain plastic sheeting from DRT cans to cover shelving if
needed, or contact the Geisel Library Access Services supervisor (x40134 or x43336),
Facilities or Preservation Depts. for more sheeting. Do not remove books from the shelves.
Do remove library materials from the floor if the materials are still dry. DO NOT WORK IN
STANDING WATER, WHICH MAY BE IN CONTACT WITH WIRING AND BE ELECTRIFIED.
- Call the Preservation Librarian, Roger Smith, x47695.
If Roger is not available, call David Jahn, Asst. Dept. Head, Preservation
Dept., x20033. (Consult the DRT 'Pocket Response Plan' list for home phone numbers).
If Roger or David will soon assume responsibility for salvage, stop at this point. If
not, the next logical person should assume responsibility and continue to follow these
instructions.
Organizing Clean-Up and Paper Salvage Operations
[For non-paper materials, refer to special instructions for specific types of
materials. For Special Collections, consult with that department's staff immediately.]
A number of arrangements have to be made for clean up of water (if Physical Plant is
unable to accomplish this without help) and for salvage. Wet books will need to be frozen
as soon as possible to prevent further damage.
- Call DRT Team Leaders to report as soon as possible to the scene.
With their help, coordinate the cleanup efforts by Physical Plant.
- With Team Leaders, identify a staging area for wrapping and boxing wet books. Decide
when to begin the identification and wrapping operations. If Physical Plant together with
the staff present are not able to accomplish the clean up in a reasonable time, then call
in DRT with the recognition that salvage effort may have to be postponed several hours. Do
not call workers to begin in the middle of the night as they will be more alert if the
operation is started first thing in the morning. Team Leaders will call DRT members
with the following information:
--when to assemble
--where to assemble
--how to dress, if boots and raincoats are necessary
- Estimate the number of boxes needed (at an average of 10 wet volumes per
box). Arrange for appropriate quantities of freezer paper and boxes to be
delivered to the staging area. Geisel Library has a large supply of these
materials stored in the Rapid Response Room and accessible to DRT
Team Leaders and the Facilities Dept. Additional boxes can be obtained through
the Facilities Dept. from the Library Annex on Miramar Road. The library mail
truck may be used for transport; the keys are kept in the mailroom (contact
Facilities or Access Services staff). Additional vehicle keys are kept in
the locked ILL drawer. For 24 Hr. Access to all buildings,
contact campus police at '4help' (44357). Try to organize delivery of supplies with DRT leaders
BEFORE staff and volunteers arrive. Additional sources of salvage supplies
are the UCSD Storehouse, SILDRN containers,
and the SILDRN regional vendor
directory.
- DRT is familiar with the procedures for identifying, wrapping and packing
wet materials. (see Packing Wet Books).
Team Leaders can coordinate the packout operation. Review the plan with the
Department Head or AUL-Collections to be sure that the lists indicate top
priorities and current locations.
- Additional volunteers should be selectively recruited with the understanding that some
lifting work in wet areas may be required. Begin preparing a list of people to replace
those on the first shift.
- Call Facilities (x40874) or the Department of Business & Finance (x45231)
to get trucks for shipment of wet UCSD materials.
- Emergency arrangements have been made with local cold storage companies
for blast freezing of wet UCSD materials: San
Diego Cold Storage.
- Call to make arrangements for acceptance of a shipment as soon as possible after loading
of boxes. (Four to eight hours are required to fill boxes and completely load the library
mail truck.)
- Arrangements for freeze-drying will be made by the Department of Business
& Finance and the preservation librarian. Do not try to arrange for them
during the salvage operation. Remain on hand to help DRT as needed. Keep primary
telephone lines open for incoming calls relating to supplies and arrangements.
Instruct staff to use lines other than those being used in the salvage effort.
Revised 9/09
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