Emma Dadson, London, Facet, 2012, vii+230 pp, £49.95 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-85604-808-8
Emergency Planning and Response for Libraries, Archives and Museums aims not only to give advice on how to construct an emergency plan and organise the subsequent response, but to advocate the necessity of an emergency plan as a vital part of managing any collection. As I write this review Australia is in the midst of some extreme weather events. Tasmania and Victoria have bushfires, parts of Queensland and New South Wales are in flood, and Central Australia is experiencing its hottest January on record. So with these events at the forefront of our minds, this book is not only topical, but timely.
Emma Dadson, an expert in emergency recovery and response, is persuasive and direct in her language and states in the preface that her “aim is to show how effective emergency planning is accessible and achievable for all”. This book isn't one to grab while an emergency is occurring. Rather it is a tool to assist practitioners in conceptualising and writing an emergency plan of their own by outlining elements of successful plans and common pitfalls to avoid.
Chapters include an introduction featuring the ‘whys’ of writing a plan and definitions of key terminology, case studies, the roles and responsibilities of an emergency response team, incident control, planning the recovery operation, collection salvage, supplementary content to include in the plan (e.g. personal contact lists, priority lists, floor plans etc.), dealing with the building, business continuity, and most importantly, ensuring the plan's efficacy.
Often textbooks have a limited worldview, but this is not the case with Dadson's work. While she uses her own experiences in emergency planning in the United Kingdom and Ireland as a foundation, she employs recent candid case studies to illustrate the human aspect of emergencies in libraries and other cultural institutions as the structure to build her argument. A flood at the State Library of Queensland (2011), an earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan (2011), the New Zealand earthquakes (2011), are but a few examples. While the content of the case studies is bleak they are enjoyable to read, especially the key lessons learnt. There are also many graphic photographs to reinforce text and various useful templates that can be modified to assist the reader design their own bespoke plan.
Throughout the book Dadson points readers to various further reading opportunities, but I feel the book could have benefited from a more comprehensive bibliography with the inclusion of a list of global associations such as The Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Material (AICCM) and American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC), to provide further core references for her international readers, especially the novice emergency planners among us.
This book is highly recommended for anyone working in the information management or cultural heritage sectors. Whether you are researching the topic for the first time or wishing to update a current plan, this book is for you.
© 2013, Alison Kate Wiercinski