Tip #11: No matter how temporary, never store items on the ground.

Flooding. Leaks in the roof. That intern that forgot to rescrew the lid to their bottle tight enough. Malfunctions in the sprinkler system. If it wasn’t enough to worry about keeping the relative humidity of your collection below 70% under typical circumstances, what are you supposed to do if there’s 100% standing water in your collection?

When it’s safe for you to enter the building and access your collection again, your exact approach will depend on the extent of the damage which in turn will depend on the materials in your collection. Plastic miniatures stored on a metal shelving unit, for example, will experience a much different kind of damage than say parchment stored on a wooden bookcase.

To cover how water affects every type of material would take another 11 tips and even then you might still require professional assistance, so instead we’re (once again) promoting preparation. Monitor the environment regularly, both with the help of technology and your own two eyes. Make an emergency preparedness plan (more  on this later). And of course, always, always, always, store items at least half a foot off the ground.

Want to learn more about mitigating damage in your collection? Check out our webinar on YouTube!