Are you worried about your preservation or COOP plans? If you lost your essential records would you still be able to get your work done?
As the devastating events of the recent hurricanes have shown us, we have little control over the disasters that affect our records. The way we respond to these disasters dictates the continuity of our operations and the preservation of our records. Even “minor” disasters (such as a broken pipe) could grow to major catastrophes without immediate attention.
Understanding that these events can happen to any institution at any time, the Western States and Territories Preservation Assistance Services (WESTPAS), in cooperation with the Utah State Archives and Records Service, will provide a free, 2-part disaster planning workshop as part of Archives Month.
Randy Silverman, Preservation Librarian at the University of Utah, will be teaching Protecting Cultural Collections: Disaster Prevention, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery, which focuses on helping local and state agencies and other heritage institutions to:
- Complete a disaster response & collection salvage plan
- Learn how to train staff to implement your plan effectively
- Set pre- and post-disaster action priorities for your collections
- Understand practical decision-making skills needed during an emergency
- Experience salvage procedures for books, documents, photos & objects
Workshop specifics:
Part 1 of the workshop includes 2.5 hours of online webinars about prevention and preparedness. Participants can view the webinars on their own or join with others at the State Archives to view the webinars as follows:
- Friday, September 15, 2017 10:00 am – 11:30 am
- Monday, October 16, 2017 10:00 am – 11:30 am
For those who wish to view the webinars at the State Archives please register on the Archives Website. For those that wish to view the webinars on their own, please move to Part 2.
Part 2 of the workshop includes a day-long seminar about response and recovery.
- Monday, October 23, 2017 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Participation in the in-person workshop requires viewing the online webinars BEFORE attending the Part 2 in-person workshop AND completing the workshop assignments given during the webinars.
Register Here for the in-person event. (This URL opens the WESTPAS calendar: register by clicking the month and day of the workshop desired.)
Who should attend?
Administrators and staff responsible for emergency preparedness and continuity of operations (COOP) planning, response, and decision-making should attend. This also includes local and state appointed records officers and chief administrative officers.
Participating institutions will be invited to join an informal network of WESTPAS trained personnel to provide mutual aid in the event of emergencies involving collections in your region.
Cost:
This event is FREE for all attendees. The funding is provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Registration:
All individuals must register for the event.
- Register for the webinar viewing at: https://axaemarchives.utah.gov/cgi-bin/traininglist.cgi.
- Register online for the in-person session at: http://tinyurl.com/ot4kve2. (This URL opens the WESTPAS calendar: register by clicking the month and day (October 23, 2017) of the workshop desired.)
For assistance with registering for the webinar viewings at the State Archives contact: Rae Gifford, rgifford@utah.gov, 801-531-3836.
For in-person seminar registration assistance contact: Wendy Cao, caow@plsinfo.org
For general & content information contact: Randy Silverman, randy.silverman@utah.edu, 801-585-6782