David, You really need to talk to who ever is managing the disaster response and recovery effort there (is a staff conservator part of the response team?) as well as talking to a knowledgable photographic conservator (perhaps someone at the Library of Congress) who has been through this before. I personally would not open the doors and expose these negatives to a blast of warm, humid air until you are prepared to rehouse them appropriately as soon as the doors are opened. Can you get a generator running to restore power to those freezer units? You can also contact Historic Preservation, that produces that wonderful disaster response wheel, for advice as well as The Washington Conservation Guild that may have a disaster response contact list for just this sort of event. Also the AIC office (American Institute for Conservation) is located in Washington (202-452-9545) and they can certainly refer you to a knowledgable conservator for advice. Many regional conservation guilds will be very helpful in Disaster Response and should be on everyone's emergency contact list anywhere in the USA. Cheers! Dave David Harvey Conservator Los Angeles, California On 6/28/06, David E. Haberstich <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > I need some advice from colleagues, especially conservators. As some of you > know, the National Museum of American History has been without electricity > since Monday, due to the flooding in Washington. We've had limited access > to the facility for cleanup (in the dark). I have acetate photographic > negatives in freezer (standard frost-free units) storage, using Metal Edge > insulated freezer kits. I'm a little confused about whether we should leave > the packages in the freezers with the doors closed while the power is off. > Should the doors be opened? Should the packages be removed from the units? > Bear in mind that we don't know exactly when the power will return--it could > be in the middle of the night. Can you think of reasons not to leave the > negatives in the freezer as they are, with the doors closed, awaiting the > return of electricity? > > David Haberstich > Archives Center, National Museum of American History > ========================================================= > Important Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at > http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain > detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line > e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message > should read "help" (without the quotes). > > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to > [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff > Museum-L" (without the quotes). > > ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).