Preservation: Restoration During Hurricane Season

During Hurricane Season

When once again hurricane season has officially begun, it means it’s time for everyone in affected areas to revisit their disaster recovery plans. If a your location makes it vulnerable to a possible storm surge, these plans will highlight in detail what actions the staff should take, in addition to covering the specifics of how important documents will be protected and retrieved after the disaster – usually with the help of a document restoration team.



If your department does not have a recovery plan in place, creating one should become an immediate priority. It’s also wise to develop a relationship now with a document restoration service that can assist in the recovery of important documents and records if the unthinkable were to happen.

Basics of a Disaster Recovery Plan

The most valuable asset to any group is its skilled staff. Because of this, it is of the utmost importance to formulate a communication plan for when a disaster occurs. Guaranteeing steadfast communication between the key players within any organisation will help tremendously during a time when the whole group is forced to continue day-to-day work at another location while the home workplace is sorted through.



In addition, it’s important to make sure all valuables on site are covered under the insurance policy. Finally, every disaster recovery plan should outline what steps to take to provide additional security for rare paper documents, as well as how to retrieve the critical information within them both during and after an emergency situation.

How Document Restoration Services can Help

A recent survey found that 55 percent of organisations have no formal disaster recovery plan that covers paper-based information. With the frequency of natural disasters increasing, document restoration services have become a beneficial resource for the many companies that find themselves victimized by a natural disaster.



Document scanning teams specialize in scanning paper documents and converting them to a digital format in order to allow visitors to retrieve them electronically if the physical copies are destroyed or simply inaccessible. In recent years, Libraries, Archives and Museums have become even more sophisticated by expanding their capability to scan documents in a variety of formats and sizes. By working with document restoration experts, organizations are able to decrease the amount of downtime required to get back to regular business operations, thus limiting excess revenue loss during the rebuild.

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Preservation: Tips Help Preserve History

Document Restoration Tips Help Preserve History

We all care about history and constantly think back on the past. As document restoration experts, we understand the poignancy and joy of looking back on familial archives, and as disaster recovery specialists, we appreciate the importance of protecting the crucial documents of a our past.



While we can all reflect on the past, we're able to plan for the future. By following the archive storage tips we’ve listed below, you can protect your most crucial documents from hazards such as floods and fires. Prevent the need for personal or business disaster recovery services by adhering to these suggestions.



Get organized. If you don’t know what you have, it’s difficult to prioritize items for top-notch archival storage. Don’t just toss Great Grandma Ruthie’s pioneer day diaries in with old bills; prioritize your most precious documents and store them separately.



Store documents in a dry, cool, dark area. Avoid keeping important documents in basements or attics, where they are liable to be damaged by mold growth. Attics see wide fluctuations in temperature, which leads paper to expand and contract, weakening it and they can be damaged by hurricanes. Ideally, your storage space should have a relative humidity of 45 percent and temperature under 70 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s best to store important papers flat, in a non-acidic container. Acid is one of paper’s worst enemies – it makes paper brittle and weak.



Protect important documents from sunlight. If you want to display your treasured item, protect it with UV-filtering glass.  All window glass to Libraries, Archives and Museums should be made with UV-filtering glass.



Remove rubber bands, staples and paperclips. These items can rip and harm documents over the long haul. If you must have some form of fasteners, choose stainless steel paperclips or staples. Delicate items can be preserved in a clear polyester sleeve or folder. Don’t use tape to fix repairs (unless it’s archival-quality, acid-free tape), and don’t laminate documents.



Separate newspaper clippings. Newspaper is highly acidic, so it should be stored separately from other archives. The best way to preserve newspaper clippings is to photocopy them onto acid-free paper.



Prevent pest infestation. Monitor your storage area and take steps to prevent pulp-loving bugs from eating your historical documents.



Do not touch! Oil and dirt may linger on your hands and can easily be transferred to documents, so handle archives with white cotton gloves only.



Some familial or professional documents are so important that they deserve professional protection. As business disaster recovery experts, we can help a family or business anticipate and stave off potential archive destruction. And if the unthinkable has already happened, we must be able to facilitate complete document restoration.

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