To ensure that an unexpected disaster, such as the broken water main that devastated the Boston Public Library last summer, doesn't catch Harvard by surprise, a Library Collections Emergency Team has been assembled. Members of the team are on call around the clock. A hot line, to be used exclusively to report emergencies involving damage to Harvard's library materials, has been established. The number is 240-2500.

The Library Collections Emergency Team, created and directed by Jan Merrill-Oldham, Malloy­Rabinowitz Preservation Librarian in the Harvard University Library and Harvard College Library, is composed of senior conservators and preservation librarians from the Harvard University Library Preservation Center and the Harvard College Library Preservation Services Department.

In a joint statement announcing the deployment of the Library Collections Emergency Team, Nancy M. Cline, Roy E. Larsen Librarian of Harvard College, and Sidney Verba, Carl H. Pforzheimer University professor and director of the University Library, said, "Stewardship of the Harvard collections is one of our primary responsibilities. This team will ensure rapid and effective response to emergencies involving library materials, which is essential to protecting and preserving one of the University's greatest assets."

According to Merrill-Oldham, the goal of the team is to push beyond the bounds of the traditional library disaster plan -- typically a paper document listing disaster recovery services and resources -- to create an infrastructure that significantly improves Harvard's ability to prevent and respond to collections emergencies. To that end, team members have committed themselves to a proactive program with three major components.

The first component is ongoing team training involving study and discussion of readings and recent incidents, and specialized training led by expert conservators, including Debra Hess Norris, director of the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, who will conduct a workshop in February on salvaging water-damaged photographs. This training will be extended to all library staff later in the year. Salvage of film, magnetic tape, disks of various sorts, and other nonpaper media will also be addressed in conferences and workshops.

The second component of the program is ongoing training of Harvard library staff. The Library Collections Emergency Team and other preservation specialists have already begun to teach a series of small group sessions involving hands-on experience in emergency techniques such as handling wet books and papers. To date, Fine Arts, Tozzer, and Countway libraries have participated, as well as the Widener Stacks Division. Emergency recovery supplies are being stocked in various locations to ensure that the libraries are able to respond quickly to problems. "Wet materials salvaged promptly can usually be saved, if not restored to pristine condition. Delays in treatment of damaged materials result in mold growth and severe defacement or loss," Merrill-Oldham said.

The third part of the program is user outreach. A series of collateral pieces, including plastic book bags for inclement weather, bookmarks, posters, and a booklet, all printed with messages regarding proper care and handling of library materials, will be distributed beginning this week.

Harvard library preservation efforts are supported jointly by the Harvard College Library (HCL) and the Harvard University Library (HUL). There are two major library preservation centers on campus. The HCL Preservation Services Department, located in Widener Library, manages general research collection conservation, preservation processing, and imaging services (photography, microfilming, and soon, scanning) for the 11 libraries in the HCL system; and also provides imaging services on a cost-recovery basis to other Harvard libraries. The HUL Preservation Center, located in Holyoke Center, conserves special collections held by libraries throughout the university, manages University-wide preservation projects, and provides a variety of preservation-related consulting services for the libraries.