Holly Burt <haburt@uic.edu> is the primary contact.

Description: This course has been developed as part of NN/LM’s Emergency Preparedness & Response initiative. The class examines strategies to assist librarians with preparing for, responding to, and recovering from emergencies. It was created to follow the "10-Step Approach to Service Continuity Planning" course - either independently or as the second half of the four-hour "Emergency Preparedness for Libraries" course. Topics include identifying strategies for continuing library services during the emergency; disaster planning models; types of resources available for emergency planning and recovery; relationships with first responders, vendors, and other libraries; and issues related to salvage. Class activities provide the opportunity to discuss and continue of developing continuity of service plans and related processes.

Educational Objective: 1) Develop a plan for continuation of core library services in the event of an emergency or disaster; 2) Know where to obtain help and/or training in collection preservation where applicable; 3) Know how to obtain help within their regions or nationwide for assistance in providing continuity of core services following an emergency or disaster; 4) Identify advocacy possibilities within both the organization and the community

Agenda:

• Introduction and background, overview of class content (15 min)
• Disaster Struck: Immediate Responses – group case study (20 min)
• People and personnel (10 min)
• Knowing your Library (10 min)
• Break (10 min)
• Working Beyond the Library (30 min)
• We’re Back – Now what?  Long term response (10 min)
• Wrap Up and evaluation (15 min)

Need for This Course: Emergency preparedness is an important issue for librarians. The class is designed to address the need for emergency preparedness and response training as expressed by the results of a baseline assessment conducted by NN/LM’s Outreach Evaluation Resource Center (OERC) in 2008, as well as to meet one of NN/LM’s stated goals in its strategic planning for 2006-2016 to educate medical librarians to be better prepared to respond to disasters.

The instructional methods used include Lecture, Slides, Discussion, Brainstorming, Hands-on Exercises, and Case Study.

Participant Materials: PowerPoint presentation, additional handouts, case study materials

Facility Requirements: Classroom setting, computer, projector, PowerPoint program.