Before disaster hits: A multifaceted approach to crisis management

This paper provides a comprehensive review of literature on disaster planning in libraries and museums. Many libraries and museums are seriously damaged or destroyed by natural or human-caused disasters, but early preparation can ensure that a library or museum is adequately prepared to meet the disaster planning needs of the institution. While much as been written in the for-profit business world on disaster planning, less has been written regarding not-for-profit institutions. Such institutions, particularly libraries and museums, have special problems endemic to their situations. Issues such as minimal security, extended hours, high employee turnover, and the institutions as focal points of cultural expression can lead to serious disasters if precautions and plans for quick response to emergency situations are not in place. From the loss of the library at Alexandria to the role of future firemen in Ray Bradbury’s (1953) Fahrenheit 451, libraries have always been potential victims of disaster. Museums are, in a sense, simply storage sites for rare and valuable cultural icons “the few crumbs of an artifactual feast that have made it through the centuries” (Garfield 1990, 67). Unfortunately, these institutions have rarely protected their collections as they ought, but they are quickly learning how they can plan for and diminish the impact of natural and human-caused disasters. Much of this knowledge comes from work in the field of for-profit businesses; large and small businesses generally react more quickly to a need for effective and appropriate disaster plans. Libraries, museums, and other similar non-profit organizations can take advantage of much of this work, which for-profit institutions have already performed. This paper will present some of these topics and identify sources which explain how museums and libraries can make their collections more secure and more likely to survive through time. When the Arno River flooded central Florence in November 1966, about one-third of the collection of the Italian National Library, the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, was damaged, primarily due to flooding of basements. The Library, situated on the edge of the Arno, received the brunt of the disaster. Books, incunabula, manuscripts, and government documents, some dating back to the 12th century, had been stored in the basements of the building because of fear of German artillery bombings during World War II, and were never moved back upstairs. As a result, about 1.2 million documents were completely inundated in the flood. This included all of the works of the original core of the collection, numerous ancient geographic works in the process of being cataloged, the richest newspaper collection in Italy, and untold numbers of paintings, sculptures, and other books and works of art (Aftermath... 1967, 463). Recent well-known disasters in America which have affected libraries and museums, in addition to forprofit businesses and corporations, have included flooding in the Midwest, numerous hurricanes and tornadoes in the Southeast, and major earthquakes in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas. Each of these natural disasters serves as a reminder that institutions should have appropriate plans in effect, and each (c) 1995 Peter McCracken mccrp@ruby.ils.unc.edu School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The Katharine Sharp Review, Summer 1995 [http://edfu.lis.uiuc.edu/review/summer1995/mccracken.pdf] MCCRACKEN/DISASTER PLANNING 2 identifies many institutions that do not. In addition to these natural disasters, human-caused ones, such as the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City, or the arson fires at the Los Angeles Public Library, highlight the need for planning for non-natural disasters. Within museums and libraries, many disasters may take an extremely long time to develop. A 1959 study of 500 nonfiction books published between 1800 and 1949 found that “only three percent of the volumes studied had paper which could be expected to last more than fifty years” (Darling and Ogden 1981, in Bello 1986, 6). Other authors describe the loss of works due to acidic paper as the “quiet disaster” (Cunha 1992, 597). Such discussion of serious preservation issues is beyond the scope of this paper, but demonstrates the broad definition of “disasters” and the need for such disaster planning on all levels and through all time frames. The Florence catastrophe became the impetus for disaster planning in libraries and museums throughout the world, and lessons learned in the massive cleanup effort that took place following the disaster are put to use daily in programs everywhere. Numerous disasters since have continued to highlight the need for appropriate planning in libraries and museums of all scales. The American Association of Museums requires that museums have a disaster plan in effect before they will accredit an institution, but having a disaster plan is simply not enough. Institutions must have methods in place for training employees in the use and proper implementation of effective disaster plans. Unfortunately, in the library field, few institutions have disaster plans. Kahn (1993) describes the serious lack of preparation in many libraries when she writes that, of the 161 libraries responding to a preservation needs assessment survey, only 19 percent had a disaster response plan, while an additional 17 percent were working on one; almost 64 percent had no plan at all. A similar survey by AMIGOS Preservation Service in 1992 found that three-quarters of its respondents-179 out of 239 libraries-had no disaster plan to speak of, despite the fact that 25 percent of the institutions had suffered some sort of calamity in 1992. (73-4, emphasis in original) While reassuring library administrators that such statistics are common for almost every type of organization, Kahn nevertheless makes it clear that planning must be implemented if libraries are to survive the types of disasters that have struck American libraries in the past several years. Like libraries, many museums are not adequately prepared for natural or human-caused disasters. The topic has been discussed in museum journals on occasion, particularly in scientific and technical journals, such as Technology & Conservation. Some general topic museum publications have also recognized the importance of disaster planning and have occasionally devoted significant portions of various issues to disaster planning (Ginell 1990; Babcock 1990). Slightly older works by Fennelly (1983) and Howie (1987) provide valuable information in book form, while significant and recent developments are chronicled in journal articles such as those by Gilbert (1992a, 1992b) and Roberts (1992). In a special issue of Museum News focusing specifically on museum disasters and disaster planning, Jones (1990) lists a litany of cultural losses resulting solely from natural disasters. This depressing list includes a series of earthquakes in central Greece in 1981 which left significant cracks in the Parthenon and destroyed at least 60 vases in museums in Athens; earthquakes which damaged or destroyed numerous sites of architectural and archaeological significance in Guatemala and Italy in 1976, in Bulgaria in 1977, in the former Yugoslavia in 1979, and in Italy again in 1980, among others; floods in Pennsylvania in 1972 and in Houston in 1976; and horrendous fires such as one in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in 1988 which destroyed 400,000 books in the library of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, one in Albany, New York, which consumed 450,000 books, 270,000 manuscripts, and a one-million-card catalogue in 1911, not to mention the great fire of London in 1666, in which hundreds of booksellers lost their collections among the extensive and almost complete destruction of the center of the city. Disaster plans do work, and museums in particularly vulnerable locations are occasionally well-prepared for disasters. One example is the Charleston Museum in South Carolina. When Hurricane Hugo came through in 1989, museum staff were ready for the impending disaster. Much more important than their immediate response was their consideration prior to the hurricane about how best to protect their artifacts MCCRACKEN/DISASTER PLANNING 3 under most circumstances. Given that their site is surrounded by water and actually below sea level, administrators knew that they would have problems with flooding. In Gilbert (1992b), the museum’s archivist and librarian, K. Sharon Bennett, explains that Hugo was not their first encounter with disaster planning. “We used to have exhibits on the first floor,” Ms. Bennett explained. “But we learned that if between June and September we have to move them three or four times ... it’s better to move them to the second floor permanently” (50). The Charleston Museum administration took preventative measures by moving works above the expected waterline well before this particular disaster appeared. When it became clear the hurricane was headed towards their institution, they took proactive measures by backing up their computers and moving items to interior rooms. Most importantly, after the hurricane passed, they took reactive measures by determining how their disaster plan worked and how they could respond better next time. After the disaster they determined they needed better flashlights while cleaning up, they needed business interruption insurance, and they needed considerably more cash on hand. By analyzing their response and identifying needs, they will be better prepared to respond during the next disaster. The expansion of printed resources on disaster planning for non-profit institutions has been a great benefit of the last several years. For-profit companies have written about disaster planning for a number of years, but much of the most recent literature on the topic is particularly valuable. Similarly, museums and libraries have be

Disaster planning in museums and libraries: A critical literature review

This study analyses current information assurance mechanisms employed by the target group of businesses. The questionnaire responses indicate that 47% of respondents do perceive backup methodologies as important, with a total of 70% of respondents having some backup methodology already in place. The respondents perceived the loss of data to have a significant effect upon the ability of their business to function. Only 14% of respondents indicated that loss of data on computer systems would not affect their business at all, with 54% of respondents indicating that there would be a major effect on their ability to operate. Respondents who had experienced data loss were more likely to have backup methodologies in place (53%) than respondents that had not experienced data loss (18%). There is a significant level of empirical data from this research to suggest a strong association between the existence of backup methodologies and company size.

Analysis of the dominant enterprise information assurance mechanisms

Many small firms go out of business after experiencing a major disaster, but there are preventive measures that can help a practice survive. Bruce Chase, CPA, PhD, Radford University, Radford, Virginia, William J. Withrow, CPA, owner, and Gwen L. Withrow, office manager, William J. Withrow, CPA, PC, recount what one sole practitioner learned when his greatest fears were realized--at the peak of tax season. As April 15 looms closer on the calendar and last-minute returns and extensions fill the in box, most CPAs have little time to think about anything but taxes. However, for William J. Withrow, a sole practitioner in Covington, Virginia, the approach of April 15 always will serve as a reminder of his worst nightmare--an office fire that destroyed client records and tax returns. In the sidebar on page 85, Withrow recounts what happened that night and the steps he took to put the business back together. This article offers some practical advice to assist any sole practitioner in preparing for a disaster. WHAT A SOLE PRACTITIONER CAN DO Withrow's success in reconstructing his business was due partly to luck. Many businesses are not so lucky. There are several steps a sole practitioner can take to increase the chances of surviving a disaster. They include: * Maintain adequate insurance coverage. Most CPAs carry some form of property damage insurance, which covers furniture, computers, software, publications and virtually anything movable. Most policies offer replacement value with a set dollar coverage limit. CPAs must ensure the dollar amount is adequate to cover the potential loss in case of a complete disaster and should reevaluate coverage after any major purchase. Two additional types of insurance are business interruption coverage and additional expense coverage. These coverages are relatively inexpensive and provide important protection. Business interruption insurance will cover lost business after a disaster and the additional expenses insurance will cover added costs of operating during recovery. In another vein, practitioners should consider liability insurance that protects them from the building owners' and other building tenants' claims if a fire resulted from a firm member's negligence. In any insurance decision, the cost of insurance must be weighed against the potential loss. However, the cost normally is minimal compared with the coverage. CPAs need a good insurance agent who will come to the office and review the alternatives. * Maintain adequate computer file backups. Old disk backup systems for personal computers are slow and cumbersome. Practitioners must invest in an efficient tape backup system (such systems start at less than $500) and make sure the tapes are stored off-site. Backing up files at the end of the day and taking the tapes home should be part of every sole practitioner's routine. For added protection, there should be two sets of tapes--yesterday's backup always should remain at home and the tapes from the day before should be brought to the office to be used as the current day's backup. If the entire hard disk isn't copied, a copy of the system software and programs should be stored off-site. * Develop a computer hardware backup plan. Backup files are of little value if there is no computer to replace the one that was destroyed. Developing a plan to replace the equipment can be more involved than it might seem. CPAs first must determine how long the business can survive without hardware and then choose the best way to obtain replacement equipment. One approach is to seek an agreement with a local vendor that enables the CPA to borrow equipment immediately while an order is being processed. Another idea is to establish an emergency backup agreement with a local company that has compatible computer equipment that can be used after a disaster. Having timely access to computer hardware may be one of the most critical elements in disaster recovery, and a CPA must know where to turn for this support. …

Gwen L. Withrow

Papers

A Sole Practitioner's Tough Lesson in Disaster Planning