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Photos available for download
Preservation Education Curriculum Image Library

Images have been provided to assist you in illustrating most of the lessons. This collection should not be considered the definitive source for preservation images. Rather, use it to enhance your presentations and perhaps update some of your existing images. NEDCC is grateful to the many vendors and institutions—libraries, museums, archives, and historical societies—that were willing to share their photographs for this project.

These photographs are available as 72 dpi JPEG files, which can be downloaded for multimedia presentations in the classroom. You can view the caption and copyright notice for each photograph when you view the enlarged image. These images are to be used for educational purposes only and should not be published without permission from the copyright holder.

Click on the classes (left) to view image thumbnails.
Click on a thumbnail to enlarge the image.

Damp books can be stood on their head or tail and dried by fanning the pages open. Air drying is a labor-intensive activity and should only be undertaken if the resources (clean and secure space, time, and trained workers) are available. Air drying is most appropriate for small numbers of damp or slightly wet collections. It has the least up-front cost of all drying options. Freezer drying is suitable for a modest number of books that are damp or moderately wet. Freezing can be considered a stop-gap measure to give responders time to plan their next steps. Vacuum freeze drying is the best option for large numbers of wet books and records and for those with water-soluble inks and/or coated paper. Note that materials usually must be frozen locally first and later transported to a vacuum freeze drying facility. Hazards in a response operation include local wildlife, which might have taken up residence in the disaster area. Mold can cause illness (or even death) in some people. Situations where mold is present should be considered hazardous. Responders should be aware of building hazards that could await them in the building after an emergency. A standard dust mask does NOT provide sufficient protection for working with mold; a respirator or a specialized dust mask with a filter must be worn. They, like the half-mask respirator with particulate filters, must be fit tested to provide proper protection. Dust masks should be discarded after single use. Gloves should be worn when salvaging collections. Nitrile gloves, shown here, can be worn by people allergic to latex. A file cabinet drawer containing wet files can be frozen as a unit, precluding the need to remove the files and pack them into boxes. Protective clothing, eyewear, and steel-toed boots or shoes are also recommended when responding to an emergency. Cartons of wet books are placed on pallets, which will then be loaded into freezer trucks. Plastic bread crates can be used to pack out damp material.