What were the outcomes for service users?
The top priority was to stabilise these significant volumes and make them safe for use. This has been achieved and while the most severely damaged volumes still need very careful handling, the rest of the collection is safe to use and accessible. During the onsite cleaning, the team were able to make brief notes and photographs of the most interesting volumes which will help to plan future cataloguing and digitisation activities more effectively.
Describe what you learned from the process: what went well? What didn’t go quite as well?
Once the team had communicated the urgency of the situation with everyone in the organisation, they were able to coordinate all the activities involved in dealing with this urgent and unexpected project.
Bringing in specialist external expertise was invaluable, both for helping the team to deal effectively with the immediate situation and for improving their skills and awareness for the future. They ensured that the work was carefully documented so that they can effectively monitor the most vulnerable volumes in the future.
The team did need to pay for some extra cleaning hours, as this element took longer than initially estimated.
If someone was thinking about taking on a similar project, what would be the one piece of advice you would give them?
Don’t panic – take a step back and assess the problem to break it down into manageable tasks. Bring in expert help if possible and always ask for advice from colleagues as there is plenty of help on offer if you look for it.