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For libraries, museums and other organizations that house irreplaceable books, a flood or other disaster can be devastating. If not cared for properly, water damaged books will warp, stain and grow mold. Fortunately, with the help of an expert in disaster recovery, documents and books can be dried and restored to usable condition – provided you take the right steps.

Even a multi-billion-dollar corporation like Sony isn’t immune to natural disasters and the destruction – such as flood damaged documents – they can bring. Ravaged by last year’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan, plus flooding in Thailand, the electronics giant reported a record annual loss of $5.7 billion dollars.

As humans, we are the only creatures capable of caring about history. Other species live solely in the moment, caring only for what immediately surrounds them. People, however, feel complicated emotions when they think back on the past. As document restoration experts, we understand the poignancy and joy of looking back on familial archives, and as business disaster recovery specialists, we appreciate the importance of protecting the crucial documents of a company’s past.

If you have documents that have been damaged by a storm or flood, all is not necessarily lost. With the latest in document restoration technology, even the most water damaged documents can be restored to a usable – and in some cases, pre-loss – condition. However, it is important to act quickly and properly to preserve your documents.

A recent survey of records managers and executives found that there’s a digital gap dividing many businesses from effective records management. The report, conducted by Ole Business Services, found that while 91 percent of businesses have a place to store paper records, just 70 percent have set up an electronic repository. Perhaps this is because most businesses equate document scanning with disaster recovery. Documents are often translated to electronic storage precisely because doing so protects the firm against unforeseen disasters such as flooding and fires. However, there are many other advantages to arranging for document scanning services, as we explore below.