The newsletter for the LaSoMi Chapter of SLA contains a few articles about Katrina, including one by LSU library school students who helped meet information needs after the hurricane.
Here's the link: http://www.sla.org/chapter/cla/april06.pdf
Call to Action on MayDay
Protecting our collections is one of our fundamental responsibilities as librarians. The Heritage Health Index, released in 2005 soon after hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma struck the Gulf Coast, reported that few institutions have disaster plans and for those that do, often the plan is out of date. It's easy to put off emergency response planning as we devote our attentions to tasks with more immediate "payback."
But on May 1 - this year and every year - you can do something that will make a difference when and if an emergency occurs. That's the purpose of MayDay - a grassroots effort whose goal is to save our collections. Although this was originally a Society of American Archivist idea, the FLICC Preservation and Binding Working Group supports federal libraries in getting involved in emergency preparedness activities.
MayDay is a time when librarians can take personal and professional responsibility for doing something simple - something that can be accomplished in a day but that can have a significant impact on an individual's or a library's ability to respond.
Individuals can do many things on their own: For example, set aside time to read key policy documents once again, just to keep the information fresh. Quickly survey collections areas to ensure that nothing is stored directly on the floor, where it would be especially vulnerable to water damage. Note the location of fire exits and fire extinguishers. Encourage your library to participate in MayDay.
Libraries may engage in activities involving all staff: For example, conduct an evacuation drill to acquaint staff members with the evacuation plan and to test its effectiveness. Or update the contact information in your existing emergency preparedness plan and create a wallet-size emergency contact roster to facilitate communication and rapid response. The list below includes a number of simple MayDay activities that can help you respond to an emergency when and if it occurs.
Suggested Ideas for MayDay Activities
1. Create or Update Your Contact Lists
One of the most important elements of disaster response is knowing how to contact critical people - emergency responders, staff, and vendors. Make sure your staff members have an up-to-date list that includes as much contact information as possible: work and home phone numbers (including direct lines at work), mobile phone numbers, work and home email addresses, and any other relevant addresses. Staff at many institutions hit by hurricanes in 2005 discovered that they couldn't use work email or phone numbers because work systems were completely out of commission; those who had an alternative phone number or email address often could connect.
· Create or update a master list for key people to keep at home.
· Create or update a list of staff members that is small enough to be kept in a pocket or a wallet.
· Create or update a list of key vendors. (Go to http://matrix.msu.edu/~disaster/search.php to find disaster recovery resources for your area.)
2. Review or Establish Basic Emergency Procedures Staff members need to know basic procedures and have essential information where it's readily available when there's an emergency. All staff members should have copies of the procedures that they can keep by their phones, at home, and in their cars. The SAA has adapted an outline for basic emergency procedures <http://www.archivists.org/mayday/MayDayEmergencyProcedures.rtf> that can be used as a template to develop your own.
· Review or develop basic emergency procedures.
· Distribute copies of up-to-date procedures to all staff.
· Make sure all staff members read the procedures.
3. Identify the Most Critical, Essential, Important Records In some cases, you may have a chance to move some items to a more secure location. Do you know what you'd take with you? In addition to your holdings, what administrative records (such as computer backup tapes) might you take?
· Create a list of collections, noting priorities.
4. Make Sure Items Are Off the Floor
Any number of causes - a broken pipe, a clogged toilet, fire sprinklers - may result in water in your storage areas. If shelf space is limited, use pallets for clearance.
· Make sure nothing is on the floor where it can be soaked.
5. Review Your Emergency Preparedness Plan Creating - or even revising - an emergency preparedness plan takes more than a day. But on MayDay you could develop a strategy for updating your existing plan.
· Read your current plan and identify what should be updated.
· Set target deadlines to accomplish key steps.
· Schedule a little time each week to work on your plan.
6. If Your Library Doesn't Have an Emergency Preparedness Plan . . .
. . . MayDay is a good time to get started. Don't expect that your plan will be finished on May 1! Use this day to set a timeline to complete your plan before MayDay 2007. Check websites and books to familiarize yourself with what needs to be done. You may want to visit one or more of the following websites for information and ideas about preparing a plan:
· The Disaster Mitigation Planning Assistance web site has a number of sample plans. http://matrix.msu.edu/~disaster/search.php
· Heritage Preservation (http://www.heritagepreservation.org) is another great place to start. Heritage Preservation's Emergency Response and Salvage Wheel provides "Action Steps" (outlining critical stages of disaster response, such as stabilizing the environment and assessing damage) and "Salvage Steps" (practical tips for different types of collections). Heritage Preservation will issue Field Guide to EmergencyResponse in May 2006. Check the website for details.
· The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides "Emergency Response Actions Steps" on its website at http://www.fema.gov/ehp/ers_wl.shtm.
· The Northeast Document Conservation Center <http://www.nedcc.org> publishes a series of Emergency Management Technical Leaflets that provide information on disaster planning and recovery, as well as other valuable resources.
· FLICC Preservation and Binding Working Group has links to resources: http://www.loc.gov/flicc/preservation.html
7. Conduct a Disaster Drill
Different libraries face different threats. Any library could have a fire. Those on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts are threatened by hurricanes; those in the Midwest, by tornadoes; and those in the West, by earthquakes. These types of disasters often strike with little warning, so it's critically important that staff members know how to respond immediately. There's no time to plan when you have to evacuate a burning building! A disaster drill will help remind your staff of the proper procedures, and can also reveal unanticipated problems that can then be corrected. Disaster drills are often difficult to execute because they interrupt public service. If you can't perform a full-fledged drill, have a "silent drill." Identify a skeleton staff group who will remain on duty to provide public service while the rest of the staff conduct the exercise.
· Make sure that staff members know where fire alarms and fire extinguishers are located.
· Make sure that all staff can point to at least two emergency exit routes.
8. Conduct Scenario Exercises
In every emergency, staff members face unexpected circumstances. Scenario exercises offer them a chance to think about how they would respond to situations that would be hard to incorporate into a drill, and the exercises are particularly helpful for those who have specific responsibilities for dealing with disasters. What would you do if someone pulled a gun in the reading room? What would you do if the toilet started to overflow? If a major storm after hours causes significant damage to buildings in the area, do you come to work? You receive a call at night that there's been a flood; what do you do? Your supervisor is out of town; whom do you call?
· Form small groups to discuss how to respond to different kinds of emergencies.
9. Survey the Building for Risks
Inspect the condition of your facility, with an eye to identifying possible hazards.
Check the roof, including drains and gutters.
Look for trees and plants growing close to the building.
Check wiring for overloaded circuits, and look for appliances (such as space heaters, coffee pots, and office machines) that may be unauthorized or in poor condition.
· Test the fire detection system and emergency lighting.
· Check to make sure fire extinguishers are charged.
· Inspect pipes and ventilation ducts.
· Ensure that access to emergency exits is unobstructed.
10. Inventory Emergency Supplies
Check to make sure that you have what you need in case of an emergency, such as a wellstocked first aid kit, flashlights with glow-in-the-dark tape, and large rolls of plastic sheeting with ropes and clips to tent collections. Check to see that you have materials to begin salvage operations, such as buckets and mops, fans, respirators, extension cords, garbage bags, disinfectant, a camera with flash and film to document damage, and a water vacuum.
· Order supplies to replenish stock.
11. Join the FLICC Preservation and Binding Working Group If you have an interest in disaster prevention and recovery, or other preservation related issues, please consider joining the FLICC Preservation and Binding Working Group. After a couple of years' respite, we are gearing up for setting a new agenda, including recommending educational programs for FLICC to offer and reviewing which preservation service FLICC should be offering to federal libraries. Disaster prevention and recovery have always been important to the working group. There are links to a sample disaster plans through the Disaster Mitigation site <http://matrix.msu.edu/~disaster/sampleplans.php>, and a disaster recovery contract <http://www.loc.gov/flicc/pdf/disaster.pdf>. If you are interested in the working group, please contact Anne Harrison, FEDLINK liaison to the group, at anha@loc.gov.
If you come up with other activities, the FLICC Preservation and Binding Working Group would love to know about them. Please send information about your activity to Anne Harrison at anha@loc.gov so that your idea may be shared with colleagues. We'd also like to track who has participated in MayDay activities and what you did. If you or your library conducts any MayDay exercises, please send a note to the same address.
Anne Harrison
FEDLINK Network Program Specialist
Federal Library and Information Center Committee Library of Congress
anha@loc.gov
I work for The Hershey Company and recently had one of our scientists come to me offering several years of Food Science journals to my library or a library that could use them. My library has all the titles but I was wondering if through the Natural Disasters Task Force there is a library that could use them. Below is a list of what is available.
Journal of Liquid Chromatography 2001-present
Journal of the American Society of Mass Spectrometry 2000-present
J Ag and Food Chem 2001-Present
Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Jennifer R. Cessna
The Hershey Company
Information Analysis Center
1025 Reese Ave
Hershey, PA 17033
p: 717-520-8869
f: 717-534-5069
jrcessna@hersheys.com
[Jennifer says that Hershey will pick up the shipping costs.]
DC SLA is asking for your financial support for our colleague, Muhammad Yaquib Chaudhary, Library Director of the University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The entire campus was destroyed by the the Kashmir Earthquake in October. (see http://www.ajku.edu.pk/ ).The amount we can raise from individuals, chapters and divisions in SLA will be primarily a symbol of our personal support to him, but it would let him know we care and realize what he is facing. We expect he will use it to move what books and library shelves can be salvaged to Islamabad, where he has been personally tasked by the President of the university to find temporary quarters for the university, and living quarters for staff and students.
Quick Bio on Muhammad:
Muhammad was a Global 2000 Fellow (actually hijacked on Saudi Airlines en route from Kashmir to the SLA Global 2000
Conference in Brighton). Since then he has won the SLA Science and Technology Travel Grant in 2002 in Los Angeles, and addressed the International Caucus Breakfast. An interview with him in Information Outlook after the conference is http://www.sla.org/content/Shop/Information/infoonline/2002/oct02/chaudhary.cfm. His paper won honorable mention in the LMD International Paper Competition in 2003 on” Leadership and Management Principles in Libraries in Developing Countries.” It is in a collection of papers published by Hayworth Press with editors Wei Wei, Sue O’Neill Johnson and Slvia Piggott." After Global 2000 he won an IFLA travel grant, and also one on technology studies in Eastern Europe (he was the only winner outside of Eastern Europe). He has just completed his PhD.
Please help Muhammad by sending a tax deductible donation made out to DC/SLA before January 31st to: Sue O. Johnson, 8505 Victory Lane, Potomac MD 20854. All funds collected will be wired in one check via the World Bank at the end of January. Please be included on the list of support we will give to Muhammad. Send me any comments you would like him to receive from you. We’ll put them all together for him.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact me, Sueojohnson@hotmail.com; or 301-299-8268.
Thanks, Sue O’Neill Johnson, President of DC SLA 2000-2001
Thank you for wanting to donate library materials to the hurricane damaged libraries.
The State Library of Louisiana is accepting donations for Louisiana public libraries. Information is on the website at www.state.lib.la.us/la_dyn_templ.cfm?doc_id=560 The contact person is Diane Brown, 225-342-4922 dbrown@state.lib.la.us
To donate to academic libraries, contact Sara Zimmerman, 225-578-3705 (sara@lsu.edu) who will forward offers lists to the academic libraries.
The Louisiana state and federal government documents depository advisory councils are setting up a program for donating government documents but we do not yet have storage space to hold shipments. If you have a list of your withdrawals, we can post it on the Louisiana government documents listserv now. Soon there will be a database for needs and offers. The federal documents Louisiana donation contact is Maureen Olle, 225-578-7021, molle@lsu.edu; the backup contact is Donna Vavrek, 318-257-4989, dvavrek@library.latech.edu. The contact for donating Louisiana state documents is Ferol Foos, 225-342-4929, ffoos@state.lib.la.us.
We expect the program to rebuild damaged government documents depository collections in Louisiana libraries to last from 6 months to a year. As of Nov. 29, 2005, none of the severely damaged libraries know yet what they need to replace. None are open. Many libraries are not accessible for staff to even get to assess the situation. Some staffs have been reduced. Universities are planning to reopen in January 2006 but not necessarily in the original buildings. The circumstances are just overwhelming and very sad but work is being done and progress made.
Please know how much we appreciate your wanting to donate materials to Louisiana libraries.
Ferol
(This message provided by Ferol Foos, State Library of Louisiana.)
From ARMA International, free disaster recovery materials:
http://www.arma.org/news/index.cfm?NewsID=355&Type=Industry
Read "Disaster Comes in All Sizes" from the March 2000 issue of InfoPro:
The folks at Internet Archive, along with many others, have compiled websites that cover news, relief efforts, and other resources. According to the site, users can search about 25,000 documents with information about Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Two of the nation's leading digital science libraries will offer free online workshops on Dec. 6 and 8 to teachers in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina at a time when textbooks and other traditional materials are in short supply. The libraries are operated by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) with funding from the National Science Foundation.
For more information, read this press release from UCAR:
A request from Smita Chandra, Librarian at the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism in Mumbai:
"On the 26th of July, Mumbai witnessed torrential rains. Due to this unprecedented heavy downpour the entire Mumbai experienced heavy flooding. Water entered our office premises at Panvel with the water level inside the building reaching about 30 to 32 inches. The water remained in the building for more than eight hours, with drinking water and power supply cut off for 3 days. The worst affected were sections on the ground floor, our library was one of them.
Half of the library stack rows were completely submerged in water and the library lost a major portion of its valuable collection. We at the library are trying to rebuild the library collection and restore back the normal functioning of the library. We request the library and information science community to help us in our efforts. We would be extremely grateful, if any library or individual could help us procure donations of the books and journal volumes lost. Please find enclosed two documents listing all the bound volumes we lost and some of the most sought after books at our library. Any help in this regard would be most valued."
Download books_lost_iig_library.doc Download lost_bound_volumes_iig_library.doc
If you can help, contact Smita at:
Indian Institute of Geomagnetism
Kalamboli Highway,
New Panvel, New Mumbai-410 218
MAHARASHTRA. INDIA
smitac_in@yahoo.com
Ph.: 91-022-2748-4137
91-022-2748-0000 (extn.no. 4137)
Fax: 91-022-27480763
The Library at the U.S. News & World Report, Washington, DC, is offering a large collection of magazine backfiles in microfilm to a library affected by Hurricanes Katrina or Rita. Jill Konieczko (jkonieczko@usnews.com), Library Director is the contact person for this kind offer. The list of titles and years is in this Excel file:
Recent Comments