These records had to be removed from the damaged building and properly reshelved if they were to be saved. Relocating vital records consumed considerable staff time. One person was redirected from pre-earthquake activities to fulltime coordination of records relocation. Before records could be moved they had to be videotaped and photographed to document the damage. The City, s greatest resource was its staff.
Many individuals put in long hours under stressful conditions.
Employees, from displaced departments, were often reassigned to the response effort where they performed beyond expectations. At the same time, those departments which received little damage were rarely used to assist other departments in their specific recovery efforts. Both the museum and the library escaped major damage to facilities or collections. Both offered meeting space and phones to departments which were displaced. However, these staff and equipment resources were under utilized.