Skip to content
  • FR
FR
  • Visit

    Visit

    • Plan your visit
    • Group visits
    • Accessibility and special needs

    About the Museum

    • Advisory groups
    • About the Bank

    Contact

    • Bank of Canada Museum
    • 30 Bank Street
    • Ottawa, ON
    • K1A 0G9, Canada
  • Explore

    Exhibitions

    • Permanent exhibition
    • Special exhibitions
    • Travelling exhibitions
    • Past exhibitions

    Blog

    Collection

    • About the Collection
    • Collection Services
    • Canadian Bank Notes Series
    • Search the Collection
    Man in a superhero costume crouching in an aisle of a home renovation warehouse.

    Economic Opportunity Costs

    With his superpowers, Peter Parker would no doubt do a fabulous job of tiling his kitchen backsplash. But as Spider-Man, he has more valuable things to do with his time.

  • Learn

    Learn

    • School programs
    • Lesson plans
    • Activities
    • Education blog
    • Educational resources

    Lesson Plan: Trading Planets

    Take a trade mission to planet Plutopia to discover why trading without a common currency is hard.

    Understanding Money: Common Questions

    Ever wondered who decides what goes on Canadian coins or bank notes? Or why our coins have certain names and our notes are different colours? Use this guide to help answer some of your money-related questions!

Notice of Temporary Closure

The Bank of Canada Museum remains closed due to COVID-19. Our museum experience is highly interactive, and our top priority is the safety of our staff and visitors. We look forward to welcoming you again once it is safe for us to reopen.

  • Home
  • The Museum Blog

Emergency Response and Salvage Workshop

By: Patricia Measures


January 19, 2016

Expect the unexpected

Recently, I attended the two-day Emergency Response and Salvage Workshop held by the Archives Association of Ontario at the City of Ottawa Archives. Sixteen people attended from a variety of backgrounds and institutions in Ontario. The instructor for the session, Iona McCraith, is a seasoned veteran, with a career spanning more than 30 years as a preservation consultant and archival materials conservator. This was a great opportunity to discuss with other professionals in the field how to create and maintain a disaster plan and—more importantly—how to react, including ways to organize staff and emergency responders in the event of a disaster.

James Bartleman Archives and Library Materials Centre in Ottawa. Winner of the Ontario Association for Architects (OAA) Design Excellence award in 2015.

Time to read the writing on the walls, er windows! Windows have been etched with the notes written in the 1820s by Samuel Clowes, the original Rideau Canal surveyor.

Although we already have a disaster plan for the National Currency Collection, Ms. McCraith offered some great resource information and suggested ways to update and improve our plan. For example, Heritage Preservation publishes a nifty little information wheel that provides invaluable guidance and practical advice for saving collections in the critical 48 hours following a disaster. Like so many things these days, there’s an app for that! Android users can download it for free from Google Play and Apple users with iOS 5.1 or later can get it free through the App Store. The app provides the same reliable content found in the original Emergency Response and Salvage Wheel.

Emergency Response and Salvage Wheel. Steps to be taken in the first 48 hours of the disaster.

This side of the Emergency Response and Salvage Wheel describes how to stabilize and dry various types of materials.

Day two was our chance to get out of the classroom and “into the field,” so to speak. After reviewing the basic disaster tool kit containing masks, coats, gloves, paper towels, etc., we took part in a simulated disaster—in this case a flood. The City of Ottawa Archives generously supplied a variety of documents, books, photographs and electronic records as our test materials. Although we knew that these were disposable items, you could feel the anxiety in this group of museum professionals as we were told to submerge the pieces in water. However, once the first item sank to the bottom of the tray, all bets were off. This was a great opportunity to practice familiar recovery methods and try out new ones we learned in the previous day’s class. Understanding how different materials react to getting wet is essential because 80 per cent of disasters involve water (e.g., through a flood or a sprinkler being activated in a fire).


A variety of materials were recovered based on the methods outlined on the Emergency Response and Salvage Wheel.



Preservation specialist is assessing the proper method for recovering wet newspaper.



Laying out the recovered wet material so that it can air dry.



According to the salvage wheel, this type of media should remain wet so that it can be safely vacuum freeze-dried at a later date.



Using a microspatula to carefully separate the pages of a waterlogged newspaper.



Simple method of drying damp items evenly.


A yearly review and simulations of your disaster plan are critical. As the old adage goes, use it or lose it. We certainly would not want to risk losing our collection by not being prepared. For those who missed this opportunity, be sure to attend the 2016 conference in Montréal, “Emergency! Preparing for Disasters and Confronting the Unexpected in Conservation,” which is being jointly offered by the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works and the Canadian Association for Conservation. Dates and details of the conference are available on the CAC website.

We want to hear from you! Do you have an idea for a blog post you’d like to see?
Content type(s): Blog
Subject(s): Reviews

Subscribe to The Museum Blog
The Museum Blog

January 4, 2021

Economic Opportunity Costs

By: Graham Iddon


Man in a superhero costume crouching in an aisle of a home renovation warehouse.
With his superpowers, Peter Parker would no doubt do a fabulous job of tiling his kitchen backsplash. But as Spider-Man, he has more valuable things to do with his time.
Content type(s): Blog Subject(s): Education
November 30, 2020

How Many Groats Are in a Noble?

By: Graham Iddon


For daily users of modern money, getting an understanding of the old British system of currency can be an act of confusion and wonder. But it’s also a peep into 13 centuries of European numismatic history.
Content type(s): Blog Subject(s): Collection, History
November 27, 2020

Understanding Money: Common Questions

By: Nathan Sells


Ever wondered who decides what goes on Canadian coins or bank notes? Or why our coins have certain names and our notes are different colours? Use this guide to help answer some of your money-related questions!
Content type(s): Blog Subject(s): Education
November 2, 2020

Teaching Economics During the COVID-19 Pandemic

By: Adam Young


Authentic, teachable moments show students how the Bank of Canada is helping the economy navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.
Content type(s): Blog Subject(s): Education
October 21, 2020

The Story Behind the Engraving

By: Graham Iddon


The men on the back of this bill were part of a small community of families, a summer hunting camp called Aulatsiivik on Baffin Island.
Content type(s): Blog Subject(s): Collection, History
October 5, 2020

If I Had a Million Dollars…I’d Be Reasonably Well Off

By: Graham Iddon


When the Barenaked Ladies released “If I Had a $1,000,000,” they could have considered themselves reasonably rich. And today? Well, there’s this inflation thing…
Content type(s): Blog Subject(s): Education, History
July 16, 2020

Johnson’s Counterfeits

By: David Bergeron


Johnson’s entire family, two girls and five boys, was involved in the counterfeiting operation: dad made the plates, the daughters forged the signatures and the boys were learning to be engravers.
Content type(s): Blog Subject(s): Collection, History

More Info

30 Bank Street
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0G9, CANADA
613-782-8914

Visit

  • Plan your visit
  • Accessibility and special needs
  • About the Museum
  • Contact
  • Explore

  • Exhibitions
  • Collection
  • Collection Services
  • Canadian Bank Notes Series

Learn

  • School programs
  • Lesson plans
  • Activities
  • Educational resources
  • Blog

●●
Bank of Canada Museum

Visit the Bank of Canada web site ›