Conference on disasters in libraries and archives

The training Seminar "Libraries and Archives in Emergency" will be
held in St.- Petersburg in October 2-6, 1995.

The Seminar is organized by the International Cultural Initiative
Foundation and the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

At present due to the aggravation of the situation in the country's
economy the number of emergencies in the depositories of cultural
heritage has perceivably grown. Artifacts are kept in the buildings
and under conditions which do not meet the storing and exposition
requirements. A majority of Museums and Libraries have no special
departments or experts in conservation.

After accidents new factors tend to arise (biological contamination,
destruction of the stored objects, ecological factors etc.) which
must be taken into account in further rehabilitation work. Methods
of prompt response are required in emergency. Situation arising
before and after the accident cannot be improved by usual steps.
There is pressing need in proficient and qualified specialists
having knowledge not only in conservation but also in chemistry,
biology, ecology etc.

The Seminar will be held for the specialists of cultural
institutions responsible for the collections storage and for the
exchange of experience in rescue operation methods aimed at
protection against loss and damage of library and archive materials
in the state of emergency. It will cover all main institution in
St.-Petersburg and St.-Petersburg Region.

The lectures and practical workshops will be held in St.- Petersburg
in the city of Pushkin.

The following topics will be discussed:

    *   The Russian and international experience in preservation of
        the library collections in emergency.

    *   The planning of the operations using to rescue the damaged
        collections.

    *   Modern fire alarm, fire extinguishers and other protecting
        techniques

    *   Security of the building, collections and staff.

    *   Recovery methods for the damaged collections.

    *   Environment in storages of cultural heritage.

    *   Environment in storages suffered emergency.

    *   Biological monitoring in storages suffered emergency.

    *   Methods used for drying and disinfection of damaged
        collections.

The lectures will be given by the leading specialists from the
St.- Petersburg museums and libraries and from the international
conservation centers.

If you need additional information, please contact:
Mrs. Uspenskaya Svetlana, phone +7 812 213 15 43

Svetlana Vasilievna Uspenskaya
Library of Academy of Sciences
St-Petersburg

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 9:11
                 Distributed: Wednesday, July 19, 1995
                        Message Id: cdl-9-11-007
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