Salvaging personal valuables
A number of conservation and heritage preservation organizations provide various resources on salvaging personal valuables after catastrophes. These resources include:
- Saving Family Treasures Guidelines from the United States National Archives and Records Administration;
- Tips For the Care for Water-Damaged Family Heirlooms and Other Valuables, Salvaging Water Damaged Textiles, and Saving Photographs After the Flood, all part of the Disaster Response and Recovery online resources offered by the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works;
- Getting your Feet Wet: Recovering Water-Damaged Collections (PDF version, 111 KB), and What To Do If Collections Get Wet from the United States Library of Congress (includes information on drying wet photos and documents);
- Coping with Water Damage and the Emergency Response and Salvage Wheel Mobile App from the former Heritage Preservation organization in the United States.
Still need help with your personal valuables?
If you need to hire a conservator to care for your personal objects, the Canadian Association of Professional Conservators offers a list of contacts in your area. To have an item appraised, you may want to contact the Canadian Association of Personal Property Appraisers.