Is Your Library Ready

For a Disaster?Disaster Recovery Planning

Melissa LefebvreBibliomation, Inc.

mlefebvre@biblio.org

Background Information

Bibliomation is on of the library consortiums in the state consisting of:

49 Public Libraries24 School Libraries

Servers:14 including E-Mail, Web, Anti-virus,

and ILS8 onsite 6 at ISP location

Getting Started

What’s a Disaster Recovery Plan anyway?

“A disaster recovery plan (DRP) or a business continuity plan (BCP) is a comprehensive set of measures and procedures put into place within an organization to ensure that essential, mission critical resources and infrastructures are maintained or backed by alternatives during various stages of a disaster.

-Paul Chin“Introduction to Disaster Recovery Planning” http://intranetjournal.com/articles/200503/pij_03_24_05a.html

Getting Started

Why do I need a plan?

If you’ve thought through various scenarios before they happen, it will make it far easier to recover from the disaster.

If a disaster does occur

Your plan will guide you step by step to recovery. You won’t have to think, the steps will already be laid out for you.

Getting Started

Questions to ask:

If there is a disaster, how do we rebuild?

What will it cost to get our library back up and running?

What will it take to restore our services to the public?

Where do we start and how?

Murphy’s Law

“If something can go wrong, it will”

Disasters occur when:

▪ Key people are on vacation

▪ It’s a holiday

▪ It’s least convenient

Basic Steps

Your Disaster Recovery Plan should:

Outline initial action to be taken in event of a disaster

Outline long-term steps to complete a recovery effort

Provide contact information essential to a successful recovery

Writing the Disaster Plan

Steps:

Survey the library building and grounds

Take a complete inventory

Outline the disaster recovery plan

Write the plan

Revise, revise, revise

Outline the Disaster Plan

I. Emergency telephone numbers and a list of contractors and service providers

II. Disaster team members and duties

III. Emergency Instructions

IV. Priorities for salvaging materials

V. Recovery procedures

VI. Inventory of the disaster response closet

VII.Disaster reports

Disaster Recovery Team and Duties

Examples:

• Team Leader

• Recovery Specialist

• Crew Manager

• Supplies and Transportation Manager

• Recorder

• Photographer

• Communications Manager

A Word about Mold

Mold WILL grow within 48 hours unless the environment is stabilized

Damp books in temperatures above 70°F and 70% humidity will be subject to mold

Undisturbed archival files will not be so quickly attacked by mold

Very wet books or those still submerged in water, will NOT develop mold

A Word about Freezing

Freezing water-damaged materials below zero degrees will stabilize mold growth

Freezing will NOT remedy mold damages and it will NOT harm the materials further

Priorities for Salvaging Materials

• Mold

• Questions to ask when setting priorities

• Categories

• First Priority (salvage at all cost)

• Second Priority (salvage if time permits)

• Third Priority (salvage as part of the general clean-up)

Most Common Salvage Methods

• Air Drying

• Freezing

• Vacuum Freeze Drying

• Vacuum Drying

Special Problems during a Disaster

Electric equipment

Mold and Mildew

Asbestos

Recovery Procedure Steps

1. Assess the damage

2. Stabilize the environment

3. Activate the disaster recovery team

4. Restore the area

Tips

DRP procedures must be written clearly and concisely

Assume that the people carrying out the DRP procedures will not be the same people who wrote it

Avoid the use of acronyms

Reference the title of the person not a name

Maintain an up-to-date calling tree

Be consistent with word usage and page layout

DRP ResourcesDisaster Recovery Journal (http://www.drj.com/new2dr/samples.htm)

“Introduction to Disaster Recovery Planning” Paul Chin http://intranetjournal.com/articles/200503/pij_03_24_05a.html

“Writing the Disaster Response Plan: Going Beyond Shouting “Help! Help!”Stephen Hensonhttp://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/proceedings/00pro28.html

Preservation and Conservation for Libraries and ArchivesNelly Balloffet and Jenny Hillehttp://www.alastore.ala.org

Society of Rocky Mountain Archivists (http://www.srmarchivists.org/preservation/publications/disasterrecoveryplan.htm)

“Disaster Recovery Plan”Michael McColginColorado Preservation Alliance(http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/cpa/articles/disaster/disasterplan2.html)