Our Heritage Vault provides guidance for scanning and digitally collecting photographs and documents that matter, the ones that help tell a family’s story or keep a business operating after a disaster.
Our Heritage Vault is an idea that stems from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. As a consultant for the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH), Steve Shulman, president and founder of Our Heritage Vault, Inc., coordinated the museum community’s early response to the storm. The project provided volunteer assistance and initial assessments to museums, historical societies, and other cultural venues through eight self-contained teams of museum professionals and conservators educated and trained in the remediation of damaged materials.
As individuals learned about this work in Mississippi and Louisiana, several asked, “What can you do for me? I have photographs that look ruined.” While museums have insurance that is specific to restoring their collections, a homeowner’s insurance covers catastrophic damage and may not have sufficient funds to pay for the restoration of art and photographs unless they have special coverage for those items.
Using Our Heritage Vault is a series pro-active steps that you can take:
• to preserve the important things in your life by digitizing them.
• to make information available to you wherever you may be via the Internet.
• to become more environmentally conscious by receiving and storing documents electronically.
• to share information with the people who help you such as your attorney, accountant, and family planner.
• to share old family photographs with your loved ones.
The EvacuPacket in combination with Our Heritage Vault.com offers protection to individuals, families, and small businesses. It provides guidance for scanning and digitally collecting photographs and documents that matter, the ones that help tell a family’s story or keep a business operating after a disaster.
