|
Disaster preparedness and response
Resources listed by organization/author |
- Trudy Huskamp Peterson
- Introduction
- Anonymous
- Forward
- Smithsonian Institution
- Smithsonian Institution Staff Disaster Preparedness Procedures, prepared by Office of Risk Management, October 1992, revised, October 1993
See also Smithsonian Institution Archives below
- NARA
- Emergency Salvage of Flood Damaged Family Papers, August 1993
- Peter Waters, The Library of Congress
- Procedures for Salvage of Water Damaged Library Materials, extracts from unpublished revised text, July 1993
- National Park Service
- Mold and Mildew: Prevention of Microorganism Growth In Museum Collections
"The American Institute for Conservation (AIC) established this website to provide a centralized repository of news and other information useful or those involved in efforts to preserve cultural material impacted by the hurricane as well as related health and safety issues."
What to Do About Your Home Movie Damage
Shelter from the Stormy Blast: A Guide to Disaster Recovery Services for Georgia and the Southeast
"Shelter from the Stormy Blast is intended for the use of libraries and archives, but records repositories, museums, historical societies, and other agencies will also find resources included with their needs in mind. As its subtitle indicates, Shelter from the Stormy Blast has been prepared specifically for institutions in Georgia and the Southeast. However, much of the material has general application and will be of use to institutions throughout the United States.
"Originally, Shelter from the Stormy Blast grew out of a disaster planning process conducted by the Preservation Committee of the Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education (ARCHE). It was published by ARCHE and the Southeastern Library Network, Inc. (SOLINET) in 1998.
Disaster Preparedness and Recovery for Works of Art on Paper (PDF)
CPC ini Emergency Preparedness & Response, offers a Generic Disaster Plan Workbook and a Library Disaster Plan Template and information on running a Disaster Plan Exercise
The Heritage Emergency National Task Force is co-sponsored by Heritage Preservation and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Center for Great Lakes Culture Disaster Mitigation Planning Assistance offers sample disaster plans, and an excellent searchable database of disaster supplies, experts, services, and other resources. There is a form with contribute information to the database. While the majority of the resources are from the Washington/Baltimore and Michigan areas contributions from any area are welcome.
Vital Records and Records Disaster Mitigation and Recovery
This instructional guide addresses the identification and protection of records containing information that Federal agencies may need to conduct business under emergency operating conditions or to protect the legal and financial rights of the Federal government and the people it serves. This guide also recommends policies and procedures that will allow agencies to assess the damage to and implement the recovery of any of their records that may be affected by an emergency or disaster.
"As part of its Field Service program, NEDCC offers an emergency assistance program for institutions and individuals with damaged paper-based collections. NEDCC staff members are available 24 hours a day to provide telephone advice if a disaster occurs. This service is provided at no charge thanks to a grant to NEDCC from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). It does not normally include on-site assistance.
Information provided includes advice on drying wet collections and dealing with damage from fire, pests, or mold. Referrals to commercial disaster recovery service providers experienced with library and archives collections can also be provided."
The National Park Service's After the Flood: Emergency Stabilization and Conservation Measures
NSCC's Emergency Preparedness pages has info on planning and recovery, as well as info about the A.R.K: A Recovery Kit.
"PDN is being developed by a partnership between SOPAC (Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission), the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA)."
"The Pacific Disaster Net is the Virtual Centre of Excellence for Disaster Risk Management in the Pacific Region. The Web Portal and Database System is designed to be the largest and most comprehensive information resource in relation to Disaster Risk Management for the Pacific Island Countries.
"It is a living collection and growing DRM information resource for actors and stakeholders to research and collaborate and improve Information and Knowledge Management.
"It also supports National Action Planning, Decision Making and provides in-country information for distribution within the region.
:It is available online (as Test and development version) and will be available offline as frequently updated DVD distribution. The Pacific Disaster Net hosts material relating from various sources like Countries, Bodies, Organizations and Agencies at regional, national and international level, relating to: Governance, Risk Assessment, Early Warning and Monitoring, Disaster Risk Management, Training and Tools,
"The formats include up-to-date and real-time information like: alerts with notification, events, calendar, contacts, forum &, message board, publications reports, data inventories, maps, links, audiovisual files etc.
"The portal will provide a valuable resource to all Disaster Risk Management partners working in the Pacific region including government agencies, regional bodies, non-government organisations and international agencies. A crucial challenge during its development was multiple access entries with a range of retrieval and display options. Inexperienced and expert users will access their information and documents without difficulty and within a range of formats. "
Information from the portal can be viewed, downloaded, sent by email and even exported into other formats. For interactive use there are different levels of access to a variety of issues. A Country page provides filtered, dynamic and fixed data and information with Events, Contacts, Links and Basic facts - available per country, organization etc.
"Pacific Disaster Net is a comprehensive and growing database and is available in four (4) distinct editions via diverse media. The goal of these editions is to enable maximum accessibility of crucial Disaster Risk Management information across the region and by its various stakeholders."
SILDRN is a regional cooperative organization, formed in 1995 by San Diego State University, California State University-San Marcos, San Diego Public Library, University of San Diego, and University of California-San Diego. Its purpose is to provide mutual aid in preparing for and coping with disasters affecting libraries and their collections.
Disaster Planning, Prevention and Recovery Manual for the Smithsonian Institution Archives
The Western Association for Art Conservation (WAAC) has published a great deal of information on disaster recovery and response. Searching for terms such as flood*, disaster*, earthquake*, etc. will yield valuable articles, among them:
by SOLINET Preservation Services Staff
In addition, Sandra Nybergs's The Invasion of the Giant Spore provides important information about dealing with mold.
"In November 1998, around 2 a.m., a tornado swept through Columbia, Missouri, in a matter of minutes. That morning, the University of Missouri records management staff arrived at their workplace to find broken windows and holes in the roof and walls. Loading dock doors and entire trees were gone, ripped away by the storm. The walls of the microfilm operations had been partially knocked down and equipment lay scattered around the room. ...
"Fortunately, the records management staff had prepared a plan far in advance of the storm. Without one, they would never have been able to be up and running again so quickly. Whether the records are electronic or paper, there is a lot of information to consider when evaluating and grouping various record series for value, retention, disposition, and protection in the event of disasters."
An account of the response to the November 1998 tornado damage to a records management facility at the University of Missouri System
Although this is in part promotional material for an automated disaster
prevention/recovery product, it contains enough substantive information to
warrant its inclusion here. Contents:
An Important Complement to the Disaster Recovery Plan
Natural Disasters in the Computer Room
Environmental Incidents in the Computer Room - by Frequency of Occurrence
Consequences of an Environmental Catastrophe in the Computer Room
Elements of an Effective Disaster Prevention System
Justification for Installing an Automated Environmental Monitoring
& Disaster Prevention System,br>
What does an Automated Disaster Prevention System look like?
Case histories<
The National Library of Australia was among the first Australian cultural institutions to investigate vacuum freeze drying technology as a disaster recovery measure. It recognised a need for local expertise to be developed in this area and purchased a vacuum freeze drier in 1986.
Since then research and development and then several private drying projects have seen the equipment used for only about one third of its life. With cost effectiveness a prime Government objective in the 1990s and changing work priorities there is pressure on Federal and State cultural institutions to re assess their involvement with low use equipment.
The paper reviews the history of the National Library's vacuum freeze drier and discusses factors which may influence the Library's future direction in this area.
"The intention of the Loss Recovery Guide with Standards (LRGS) is to provide emergency response, mitigation and restoration guidelines that help reduce the costs of processing a property claim in public and private buildings, with its basis on the safety to life and property.
"Assistance before, during and after an emergency. IPS is available to assist your institution with planning activities and recovery from damage caused by various emergency situations, including natural disasters, fire, pipe leaks, mold and pest infestations, construction accidents and vandalism. In the event of an emergency or its aftermath, call IPS for information, guidance, referrals to local resources and on- site assistance as required. For institutional disaster planning activities, the IPS offers an "Emergency Preparedness and Recovery" workshop. A basic disaster plan, bibliography and other information are also available."
"EmmS was founded in 1981, and incorporated as a company in 1992. We are a registered charity which serves museums of all types in the East Midlands region, operating in the historic counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland. We work closely with the new single regional agency, East Midlands Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (EMMLAC). "
Together, East Midlands museums will take a leading part in protecting the region's inheritance for the benefit of present generations, and as a continuing legacy for the future; in so doing, they will make an important contribution to the region's educational, social, cultural and economic life."
The School offers the following courses:
"BSc Honours Degree in International Disaster Engineering and Management, the BSC Honours Degree Development and Health in Disaster Management and the MSc Degree in Disaster Management. We believe the undergraduate course to be unique, and all our courses adopt a multi-disciplinary approach and cover many aspects of disaster management."
During "environmental emergencies", such as major fires or oil spills, information is needed rapidly to support the activities of those responsible for coping with the problems that arise. WCMC has access to much of the relevant information, and is in a possition to retrieve it quickly and distributed it to those concerned with planning measures to reduce environmental damage....
"The Upper Midwest Conservation Association (UMCA), a nonprofit regional art conservation center located in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, provides 24-hour disaster response and recovery services and consulting to cultural institutions and collections including museums, historical societies, libraries and archives, throughout the Upper Midwest region including Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. UMCA maintains a large cache of emergency supplies that can be transported on-site in a matter of hours from our home base in Minneapolis. We also provide treatment services for damaged artifacts as part of our disaster recovery services. UMCA also maintains a $10,000 cash reserve to cover consulting costs until affected institutions can collect insurance or other emergency funding. We have worked with FEMA on a number of disasters and have significant experience in disaster response and recovery including floods, fires, tornadoes, pest infestations, mold outbreaks, hurricanes, earthquakes and construction disasters. UMCA can be reached at (612) 870-3120 or at our 24-hour emergency telephone numbers:"
- Neil Cockerline: 612-910-2577
- Melinda Markell: 612-910-2571
e-mail: UMCA@aol.com
In order to make information on disaster preparedness and response readily available, your help is needed. If you--or your institution--have disaster plans, policies, guidelines and other documents that would help another group prepare for or respond to emergencies, please contribute them to Conservation OnLine. To contribute, please get in touch with Walter Henry.