Thursday, August 28, 2008 We’re very lucky to have Facilities Management for our area stationed in the Main Library. When we need to discuss something we can go down to the basement and talk directly to the staff. When Mike Lee discovered he had some wet files, we were happy to be able to offerContinue reading “Overlooked Files”
Category Archives: Flood Recovery
45s Are Fun!
Thursday, August 21, 2008 After working on the LPs and 78s, the 45s are a breeze. First, there are only three boxes–about 300 to clean. Second, they are small and cute and easy to handle. They are not brittle, like the 78s. They have few labels running, unlike all the Supraphon from the LPs. TheContinue reading “45s Are Fun!”
Getting Grosser
Thursday, August 14, 2008 These are some of the last boxes of records we had to go through. They had dried out which made it much harder to separate them. Many of the records had also warped since there was so much space in the boxes they expanded. The boxes we had been working onContinue reading “Getting Grosser”
Mold on 78s
Friday, August 6, 2008 When we washed all of the records, we didn’t only have to worry about the flood goo but also the mold that thrives in damp, warm conditions. The mold can be very harmful if it is inhaled. Because of this, we have to wear respirators and latex gloves at all times toContinue reading “Mold on 78s”
HVAC Augmentation
Monday, August 4, 2008 We were lucky in the Main Library. We have three air handlers and have managed to keep two of the three working. With one out, we needed a way to keep air circulating everywhere. Plastic air tubes were placed strategically throughout the building to augment our HVAC system. Air is brought inContinue reading “HVAC Augmentation”
Cleaning 78s
Thursday, July 31 Cleaning the 78’s from the Czech Slovak record collection has been our longest project so far. Just the cursory cleaning we did out at the Oakdale paper facility took two months. We used two water baths, one with photo flo, a mild soap; and one with clean water to rinse. We thenContinue reading “Cleaning 78s”
The Challenge of Unboxing 78s
Tuesday, July 29, 2008 We were amazed to discover that 78s expand when wet. Getting them out of their archival box was no small task. The photos explain the process.
David Muhlena Visits
Monday, July 28, 2008 One of the benefits of having a local institution like the University of Iowa help with flood recovery is the access we have to the curators of the museums. If these museums had to send their collections to one of the regional centers they would be much less involved in theContinue reading “David Muhlena Visits”
Cleaning CDs and DVDs
Friday, July 25, 2008 The DVDs and CDs from the African-American Museum are still caked with dirt. Most had been in plastic cases, and so Bill and I pitched the covers and dry wiped these. There was a stack, however, that were only in paper sleeves, and so in worse condition. Nervous about putting theContinue reading “Cleaning CDs and DVDs”
Czech LPs Debut
Thursday, July 24, 2008 The highlight of the day was listening to three Czech LPs that we had salvaged. The covers are wrinkled, tattered, stained, and still have a distinct odor about them. The records have a slight “scent” to them, too, probably from the paper label. CR Gazette Reporter, Alicia Ebaugh , made aContinue reading “Czech LPs Debut”