Information Roles in Disaster Management Day 1 July 18, 2012 1300 – 1400 CT Robin Featherstone, MLIS Liaison Librarian (Medicine) Life Sciences Library, McGill University [email protected]Course materials: http://www.mlanet.org/education/dis/info_roles.html
Webinar presented on July 18, 2012 as part of the Medical Library Association's Disaster Information Specialization Program.
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Information Roles in Disaster ManagementDay 1
July 18, 20121300 – 1400 CT
Robin Featherstone, MLISLiaison Librarian (Medicine)
Disaster Information SpecializationHow do I take a course? In-person and online (all available online)
What courses are there? Basic level:
1. Disaster Health Information Sources: The Basics2. US Response to Disasters and Public Health Emergencies3. Information Roles in Disaster Management4. National Incident Management System, an Introduction 5. Introduction to Incident Command System
Advanced level:• Disasters in an International Context• Ethical and Legal Aspects of Respons• A Seat at the Table: Working with Local Responders• CBRN [Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear] and Hazmat
Information Resources
Disaster Information Specialist
• Provides disaster-related library or information services as part of their ongoing job functions
• Possesses knowledge and skills to support
disaster management
• Does more than protect library collections and maintain library operations
• Halsted, Deborah D., Richard P. Jasper, and Felicia M. Little. Disaster Planning: A How-to-Do-It Manual for Librarians. New York: Neal-Schuman, 2005.
DefinitionsDisaster: a serious disruption of the functioning of society, causing widespread human, material or environmental losses which exceed the ability of affected society to cope using only its own resources.
Emergency: a situation that is out of control and requires immediate attention.
Event: an occurrence that has the potential to affect living beings and/or their environment; a realization of a hazard.
“Grey” Literature• Reports• Summaries• Surveillance data• Training materials• Conference proceedings
HazLit Database
Role of Social Media
“Clearly, social media are changing the way people communicate not only in their day-to-day lives, but also during disasters that threaten public health.”
(Merchant, 2011)
Information use by disaster preparedness professionals• Influenced by their training• Viewed information as a decision-making
tool• Considered information to include
observable environmental data and conversations
• Relied on social networks and the Internet• Revisited trusted organizational sites (i.e.,
• Potential local hazards• Vulnerable populations• Emerging hazards,
novel events• News• Current conditions
(Folb, 2011)
What do emergency managers see as the roles of librarians?
• Creating and maintaining taxonomies with expert input• Serving as a clearinghouse of knowledge concerning the
different aspects of disasters• Equipping libraries to access real-time emergency
telemedicine networks• Working with specialists to identify high-quality information• Developing easy-to-use methods of delivering specific content
(Turoff & Hiltz, 2008)
• Producing annotated bibliographies and syntheses
• Participating in call centers taking questions from the public
• Developing FAQs for local emergency preparedness and response and making them easy to locate
• Assisting in text and data mining, aggregating and compiling information to support public health decision-making
• Sharing expertise with those in developing countries through an international network of librarians and archivists
(Turoff & Hiltz, 2008)
What do emergency managers see as the roles of librarians?
• Become part of the network• Partner with trusted organizations• Get involved in pre-career training
(Folb, 2011)• Be part of your organization’s disaster
plan• Monitor information using alerting services• Be strategic in your communication plan –
consider audience capacity and use appropriate technologies
• Evaluate your services
(Featherstone, et al. 2012)
Recommendations for librarians
Homework - Activity 2
• Read the article by Erik Auf der Helde, The Importance of Evidence-Based Disaster Planning
• Reflect on his recommended interventions (summarized on the handout labeled Activity 2)
• Identify a professional service you could provide
References
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Public Law 93-288 as amended), http://fema.gov/about/stafact.shtm
Donohue, A. (May 21, 2012). Emergency Preparedness and Librarians: A Match Made in Hospitals! Poster Presentation given at the Medical Library Association Conference, Seattle WA
FEMA (2012). Tabletop Exercise. Accessed April 7, 2012 from: http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw000/watersecurity/tools/trainingcd/Pages/intro.html,
Featherstone, R., Boldt, R., Torabi, N. & Konrad, S. (2012). Provision of Pandemic Disease Information by Health Sciences Librarians: A Multisite Comparative Case Series. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 100(2), 104-112. Accessed May 12, 2012 from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3324800/
Featherstone, R., Lyon, B. & Ruffin, A. (2008). Library roles in disaster response: an oral history project by the National Library of Medicine. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 96(4), 343-350. Accessed April 3, 2012 from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2568836/
References cont.Folb, B. (March 30, 2011). Information Needs and Practices of Disaster Response Professionals:
Findings and Implications. . [Presentation given at the Disaster Information Outreach Symposium, Bethesda, MD). Accessed April 2, 2012 from: http://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?Live=10102
Merchant, R.M., Elmer, S. & Lurie, N. (2011). Integrating Social Media into Emergency-Preparedness Efforts. NEJM. 365(4). 289-291.
Turoff, M. & Starr, R. (March 6, 2008). Information Seeking Behavior and Viewpoints of Emergency Preparedness and Management Professionals Concerned with Health and Medicine. [Report prepared for the National Library of Medicine]. Accessed April 2, 2012 from: http://web.njit.edu/~turoff/Papers/FinalReportNLMTuroffHiltzMarch11.htm
Walsh, L., Subbarao, I., Gebbie, K., et al. (2012). Core Competencies for Disaster Medicine and Public Health. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. 6(1), 44-52.
Zach, L. (March 30, 2011). Librarians’ Perceptions of Roles in Disaster Activities. [Presentation given at the Disaster Information Outreach Symposium, Bethesda, MD). Accessed April 2, 2012 from: http://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?Live=10102
Image CreditsPlanning the programmes.jpg image by David Brewer:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Planning_the_programmes.jpgRadiologist in San Diego CA 2010 by Zackstarr: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/