Disaster Management in Archives, Libraries and Museums (1st ed.)

Citation

Wise, C. (2010), "Disaster Management in Archives, Libraries and Museums (1st ed.)", New Library World, Vol. 111 No. 9/10, pp. 443-444. https://doi.org/10.1108/03074801011089387

The published literature in disaster management in the cultural sector has increased significantly over the last 20 years or so. A key event was the fire at Norwich Central Library in 1994, which greatly influenced approaches to disaster management in the archival, library and museum domains. Disaster management was no longer an optional activity; it became and is a strategic and operational necessity, contextualised by the creation of risk registers and complemented by business continuity planning. This work, Disaster Management in Archives, Libraries and Museums, is yet more evidence of the importance of disaster management in the cultural sector in the UK, and is the first to address all three domains.

In 2005, Professor Graham Matthews was awarded a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to investigate the current position regarding disaster management in archives, libraries and museums in the United Kingdom. As a member of the Project Advisory Panel, I was invited to comment as the research project progressed, and it is very pleasing to see the results now in print in Disaster Management in Archives, Libraries and Museums.

The work is systematically organised and the text clearly presented. It begins with an introduction to the research project; describes the context for disaster planning in the three sectors; reviews the British and overseas context for the study, including key information sources; analyses the key features of the Disaster Control Plan; presents the findings of the research project; and indicates key themes for future planning. The purpose of each chapter is clearly stated; the narrative is concise; and conclusions relevant and specific to the three domains. Crucially, at the end of each chapter, and in a separate “Sources of information”, there is an extensive bibliography; collectively, this is the most comprehensive bibliography on the topic that I have seen in print.

The overview and referencing of key incidents and milestones which have shaped disaster management in Chapters 3 and 4 are particularly interesting in charting initiatives, responses and approaches to disaster management in the domains both in the UK and overseas, over the last 20 years or so.

The findings of the survey of disaster management across the three domains are, inevitably, a snapshot of the situation at the time the research was conducted and up to summer 2008. What makes the findings particularly pertinent and memorable are the anonymised excerpts, in which respondents to the survey review their experience of issues such as senior management support, staff training and buildings maintenance. These points may well strike chords with those responsible for disaster management and the maintenance of the disaster control plan in their institutions.

This work is an important addition to the literature of disaster planning in the cultural domains, and is particularly valuable in two regards. The first is in reinforcing the case that disaster management is an essential and integral part of institutional management. The second is in the discussion and analysis of the history of disaster management in the three domains, and the events that have influenced this.

Inevitably, the price, at £55, means that this work will attract institutional purchase. I commend the work to anyone with a strategic or operational responsibility for disaster planning in a cultural institution. Aside from the valuable research presented, it is also a very good read. Finally, it flags up the need for a comparable work on business continuity planning for the three domains.