Taught in two 1.5 hour sessions over two consecutive days, this class will provide the knowledge necessary to plan, organize and execute a disaster plan and a salvage operation.
Disaster can strike at any time in any locale, disrupting operations, threatening human safety, and damaging or destroying collections. Having a plan in place before disaster strikes makes good business sense; institutions that view emergency management as critical and provide staff with the authority and tools to plan will ultimately respond more successfully than those that have not prepared. This class is an overview of different steps that cultural heritage institutions can take to be better prepared for a disaster of any size. The sessions cover risk assessment and mitigation, creating a disaster plan, collections salvage procedures, techniques for training staff, and touches on creating emergency response networks.
Learning Outcomes:
Identify key steps in the disaster planning process.
Apply emergency management strategies.
Recognize and react to impact on staff.
Instructor: Annie Peterson
Annie Peterson (she/her) is a Program Leader at LYRASIS. She coordinates LYRASIS Learning and teaches classes on preservation, digitization, and other topics related to cultural heritage institutions. Before joining LYRASIS, Annie Peterson was the Preservation Librarian for the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library at Tulane University. Previously, she was an IMLS Preservation Administration Fellow at Yale University, where her primary focus was writing a disaster plan for the library’s high density storage facility. Her background in library and archives preservation provides a strong basis for assisting LYRASIS members with their preservation and digitization projects. She has an MLIS from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. In 2016 Annie was awarded the Esther J. Piercy Award from ALCTS, an award that is given to recognize the contribution to areas of librarianship included in library collections and technical service by a librarian who has shown outstanding promise for continuing contribution and leadership.
