The Document Conservation Laboratory at the United States National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) periodically augments and re-evaluates its emergency preparedness, response, and recovery plans. To date, most emergencies have been small and opportunities to evaluate drying methods have been limited. This project provides a closer look at drying recommendations offered in the literature and compares these approaches to what would approximate real life circumstances. To allow for complete objectivity in assessing results, a deliberate decision was made at the project’s outset to avoid identifying vendors used in this study. Participating vendors were aware of our project, but we do not know if this knowledge had any influence on how our items were handled.
Slide 01 Comparison of Drying Methods Kaplan/Ludwig 2003