Eyebeam, a not-for-profit art and technology center located in Chelsea, was hit particularly hard by the surge from Hurricane Sandy. In addition to damage to the facility and equipment, parts of their media collection, including magnetic tape and optical media, were submerged in dirty, brackish water. IFA Conservation Center students Melissa Tan, Desirae Peters, Saira Haqqi, Kari Rayner and Brian Castriota, under the guidance of Visiting Professor Christine Frohnert, responded to a call for volunteers to offer help.

Based on previous emergency assistance provided by A/V Preserve and students and faculty from the NYU Moving Images Archiving and Preservation Program, the group documented and cataloged around 200 optical media discs and organized cleaned magnetic tape for drying. Although the precise condition of the media will be unknown until the content is viewed, there is hope that the majority of the optical media could still be playable. Given the special circumstances of the emergency situation, the whole collection looked much more under control by the end of the day.

Online Resources

If you have water-damaged electronic media, please see:
http://www.avpreserve.com/