Disaster Management for Libraries and Archives

Disaster planning might not seem a pressing concern - until disaster strikes. Recent events have reminded us that any collection or service may be at risk, and libraries and archives must have prevention and recovery measures in place. Written by academics and practitioners, drawing on firsthand experience and research worldwide, including Australia, Scandinavia and the USA, Disaster Management for Libraries and Archives reviews and explains the importance and scope of disaster management planning, and what can be done before, during and after incidents. The book begins by explaining how to develop a disaster control plan, outlining the different phases from prevention to recovery, and goes on to provide guidance on risk assessment and management methods which should underpin disaster planning. Individual chapters then focus on fire and flooding, bringing together lessons learned from recent disasters in the UK with case study material including information on prevention systems and reaction and recovery measures. A chapter on cooperative projects in the USA follows, providing examples of how collaborative partnerships and networks can be organized so that help, expertise and resources can be shared to facilitate management of disasters. The effect on people, both employees and users, must never be overlooked; this is the emphasis of the second half of the book. Research on the impact of a major library fire in Sweden forms the basis of the next chapter, which explains how the psychological impact of disasters on both staff and the local community can be managed. The following chapter describes the devastating effects on cultural institutions and their staff of war in Croatia in the early 1990s and extraordinary achievements against the odds. Ways of maintaining immediate, temporary service continuity along with planning for long-term restoration of services are exemplified by a case study of the fire at the Central Library of Norwich. Disaster Management for Libraries and Archives offers advice and insight for managers beginning to work on or reviewing disaster management within their organizations. The accounts of actual events highlight the real-life challenges faced and the effectiveness of appropriate solutions, while the guide to information sources at the end of the book signposts readers to a wealth of other useful material.

Contents: Disaster management for libraries and archives - an introduction, Graham Matthews; The disaster control plan, Heather Mansell; Risk management, Alice Cannon; In case of fire, Bill Jackson; Flood prevention and recovery, Christine Wise; Cooperative activity in the USA, or misery loves company, Sheryl Davis and Kristen Kern; Psychological aspects of disaster management, Maj Klasson; The Croatian experience 1991-1995, Kornelija Petr; Aftermath - service continuity and recovery, John Creber; A guide to sources of information, Graham Matthews; Index.

Graham Matthews is Professor of Information Management, Loughborough University, UK, having previously worked at the University of Central England and Liverpool John Moores University, and in academic and public libraries. Graham Matthews was Project Head of a major British Library Research and Development Department funded project and co-author with Paul Eden of its report, Disaster Management in British Libraries. Project Report with Guidelines for Library Managers, Library and Information Research report 109 (1996) . He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals Preservation and Conservation Panel and has served on other national preservation committees. John Feather has been Professor of Library and Information Studies at Loughborough University in the UK since 1988, having previously worked at the Bodleian Library, Oxford. He has a wide range of expertise in the field, including preservation management. Among his previous books are Preservation and the Management of Library Collections (2nd ed, 1996) and, with Graham Matthews and Paul Eden, Preservation Management. Policies and practices in British libraries (1995). He is a former Chair of the Rare Books Group of the Library Association, and has served on many international and national professional committees.