HOME /

Library Collections Salvage Priorities

When to Prioritize

Setting priorities at a broad level begins during the emergency planning process, and is then refined and informed during real emergencies. 

During the planning process

  • Assess collection priorities (see below) and record them in your emergency plan.
  • Identify high-risk physical formats (see below), and determine a method for locating them during a response. Prioritize high-risk formats and high-value items/collections for preventive measures to minimize risks

During initial response

Locate high-risk formats for urgent evaluation.

 

During recovery

Factor condition into collection priorities when initiating emergency recovery to determine the order of removal and treatment during salvage:

  1. Most highly valued (most important to the institutional mission)
  2. Least damaged (to prevent further damage)
  3. Slightly damaged (low-hanging fruit, easiest to return to normal)
  4. Severely damaged (most difficult and expensive work)

 

 

Collection Priorities

Assess at a room or collection level during the planning process. Identify individual items of mission-critical value.

 

1. Irreplaceable/Essential

  • Valuable/permanent papers with legal, fiduciary, evidentiary value (e.g., vital records) or materials essential to the functioning of the library
  • Collection access and ownership documents such as catalogs, indexes, finding aids, acquisitions files
  • Irreplaceable materials that must be retained in their original format (e.g., manuscripts or rare books with high intrinsic or artefactual value)
  • Microfilm/photographic/film masters (should be stored off-site)

2. Significant Content/High Financial Value

  • Materials with significant research value that are expensive-to-replace / repair (e.g., rare books)
  • Materials with significant research value on high-risk media or in high-risk formats that must be stabilized immediately if they get wet
  • Business continuity: high use items / collections

3. Items Belonging to Other Libraries

  • Borrowed items for exhibitions
  • ILL/Borrow Direct

4. Significant Content/Replaceable

  • Materials that are replaceable with other originals, copes, or formats

5. Expendable

  • Annual replacements and updates
  • Duplicates
  • Materials not central to mission of the library

 

High-Risk Physical Formats

Identify and prioritize the formats below for preventive measures to minimize risk of damage.

Segregate, label, map, or otherwise highlight these items to indicate that they will require earliest assessment by a format-specific expert during emergency response.

 

Audiovisual Materials

  • Lacquer discs
  • Shellac discs
  • Cylinder records that have plaster or paper / fiber cores

Motion Picture Film

  • Previously deteriorated or moldy film
  • Film that has become slippery

Photographic Materials

  • Cased photographs – daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, cased tintypes
  • Salted paper photographs (coated, hand-colored)
  • Polaroid
  • Digital prints

Paper-Based Materials

  • Items on coated paper such as modern papers
  • Items containing soluble inks

Books and Bound Materials

  • Bound illuminated manuscripts
  • Parchment bindings and/or text blocks
  • Copy books with manuscript