Disaster Preparedness & Recovery

Books on shelves.

Table of Contents

Introduction

A disaster, no matter how big or small, can happen at any time. Implementing preparedness strategies can reduce damage to your records. While we want to save our records, personal safety is of utmost importance during any type of emergency. Actions taken during disaster recovery should not risk your safety. To promote disaster planning and recovery, we have provided disaster preparation tools and resources.

Preparedness

Essential records identification and protection refers to the processes involved in identifying, safeguarding, and ensuring the availability of critical documents and records that are vital for an office's operations, compliance, and legal purposes. These records must be protected from potential threats such as natural disasters, technological failures, or human errors.

Here’s an overview of the key steps involved in identifying and protecting essential records:

  1. Identification of Essential Records
    • Critical Nature: Essential records are those that are necessary to an office's ongoing operations and legal obligations. They could include financial records, contracts, legal documents, personnel information, and regulatory filings.
    • Types of Essential Records:
      • Legal: Documents like contracts, licenses, patents, and intellectual property.
      • Operational: Data required for business continuity, such as employee payroll, records management databases, and transaction records.
      • Financial: Accounting ledgers, tax returns, auditing records, and financial statements.
      • Personnel: Employee records, benefits information, and performance records.
      • Regulatory: Compliance-related records required by government authorities.
    • Risk Assessment: Identify what would happen if essential records were lost, corrupted, or destroyed. This helps prioritize which records are the most critical for preservation.
  2. Classification of Records
    • Permanent vs. Temporary: Some records need to be preserved indefinitely (e.g., legal documents), while others may only need to be kept for a specific period (e.g., payroll records).
    • Sensitive Information: Identify records that contain sensitive or confidential information that requires heightened security.
  3. Protection of Essential Records
    • Backup and Redundancy: Ensure that essential records are regularly backed up and stored in multiple secure locations (physical and/or digital). For digital records, this could involve cloud storage or external hard drives.
    • Access Control: Implement strict access controls to ensure that only authorized personnel can access critical records.
    • Physical Security: For physical records, ensure that they are stored in fireproof, waterproof, or secure vaults. This is especially important for legal and financial documents.
    • Digital Security: Use encryption, firewalls, antivirus software, and secure access protocols to protect digital records from cyber threats.
    • Disaster Recovery Plan: Develop and maintain a disaster recovery plan that includes procedures for restoring lost or damaged essential records. This should include both physical and digital recovery strategies.
  4. Disposal of Non-Essential Records
    • Implement a document retention policy to properly dispose of records that are no longer needed. This will ensure that essential records are not accidentally discarded.
    • For sensitive records, proper shredding or secure deletion methods should be followed.
  5. Training and Awareness
    • Periodically teach employees about the importance of essential records and the office's policies for identifying, storing, and protecting them. Ensure that everyone understands their role in the protection of these records.
  6. Regular Audits and Updates
    • Conduct regular audits to ensure that essential records are being maintained and properly protected. Keep the protection strategies up to date with changing technology, legal requirements, and the office's needs.
  7. Legal and Regulatory Compliance
    • Ensure that the protection and management of essential records meet all relevant legal and regulatory requirements, including industry standards, privacy laws, and compliance mandates.

Best Practices

  • Use of Cloud-Based Solutions: Many offices choose to store essential records in encrypted cloud storage for easy access and enhanced disaster recovery options.
  • Document Management Systems (DMS): A DMS can help with the classification, indexing, and retrieval of essential records, ensuring efficient protection and compliance.
  • Cross-Department Collaboration: Different departments may hold essential records that need to be protected, so inter-departmental cooperation is important.

Sample Questionnaires & Inventories

Disaster Planning Steps

  1. Assign Responsibility (tasks forces, committees, or teams)
    • Planning
    • Response
    • Recovery
  2. Train Responsible Members
  3. Conduct a Risk Analysis
    • Identify potential facility problems
    • Survey protection policies and procedures
    • Assess ability to protect people
    • Evaluate the potential for damage from natural disasters
  4. Establish Goals and Timetable
  5. Develop a Reporting Schedule
  6. Evaluate Records and Delegate Priorities
  7. Identify Potential Sources of Damage
  8. Assess Prevention and Protection Needs (supplies and equipment)
  9. Prepare a Disaster Plan and Disseminate
  10. Coordinate Training and Drill
  11. Evaluate the Plan and Update Regularly

Elements of a Disaster Plan

  1. Table of Contents
  2. Introduction
    • Use of the plan
    • How the plan should be revised
    • Responsible personnel
    • General information about the facility
  3. Emergency Contact Information
    • Fire/police departments
    • Hospitals
    • Emergency shut-off
    • Utility
    • A brief list of emergency respondents (vendor services)
  4. Contact Reporting Tree
  5. Records Priorities
  6. Response Outline
    • Lead personnel responsibilities
    • Assessment of the situation
    • Organization and prioritization efforts
    • Establishing a command post
    • Eliminating hazards
    • Controlling the environment
    • Dealing with the media
    • Obtaining emergency funding and supplies
    • Providing security and human comfort
    • Training in salvaging techniques on-site
  7. Supply Lists and Recovery Vendors
  8. Clear Descriptions of Salvaging Techniques
  9. Rehabilitation Plans for Conservation Treatment
  10. Appendixes

Recovery

When a disaster or emergency happens, it's vital that you act quickly to stabilize the condition of the affected materials in order to prevent further damage. Quick action hinges on a robust disaster recovery plan that includes information on how to assess damage. This plan should be reviewed regularly to ensure your staff members know what to expect. When using a disaster recovery plan, be sure to adhere to the necessary tools, equipment, and safeguard gear to prevent harm when salvaging records.

Water damaged book and paper-based should be assessed in a critical and timely manner as exposure to ambient high humidity levels can cause irreparable damage or loss if not addressed within the first two days of exposure. There are many free resources available to help with this response whether it be advice or actual first responders to help on-site, and it is strongly encouraged to familiarize yourself with these resources in advance of a disaster and to have their hotline contact information within easy reach. They are conservators or other trained professionals that will immediately help get damaged materials into a safe situation until further decisions can be made about next steps, such as pursuing conservation treatment.

These resources can be accessed through:

We also recommend you research other cultural, historical or museum institutions in your immediate proximity and have their contact information ready at hand, as they may have staff that can help and arrive quickly. Getting materials out of harm’s way and setting up a triage area to dry things out are steps that should be taken even before contacting any vendors. To search for these institutions by location in Virginia, go to the Virginia Association of Museums (VAM) webpage.

There are many types of institutions in VAM, many of which are not museums, and you should not hesitate to seek their help. They have members that have specifically volunteered to provide disaster response to any type of cultural heritage entity at no charge. We recommend you reach out to them before disaster strikes and coming to an agreement about services that can be provided.

In the event of a major disaster involving large numbers of damaged materials, a disaster recovery vendor may be required.

Records Recovery Vendors

When contacting records recovery services, we recommend that your office identify the services that are needed based on the format in which your records are stored. When selecting a vendor, we suggest you consider services that can fix mold and insect infestations, clean and decontaminate records, dry magnetic and digital media, and freeze wet records.

The Library of Virginia does not endorse any company listed as a service recommendation.

Our State Records Center (SRC) has pest-eradication and blast-freezing services for government entities' use in the event of an emergency. The pest-eradication chamber is a custom-built blast freezer that freezes records at −40°F to destroy insects and vermin. The records are then gradually brought back to room temperature. The chamber can also be used in an emergency to stabilize water-damaged records and stop mold growth until document restoration professionals can provide specialized treatment. The maximum load for emergency stabilization is 600 cubic feet of records. It is important to freeze water-damaged records within the first 48 to 72 hours to avoid an outbreak of mold.

For help with a records emergency, contact either the SRC at (804) 236‑3705 or your records management analyst.

Conservation

Even if the SRC or a disaster recovery vendor has provided disaster mitigation, there may still be a need for conservation services. Conservation treatment may involve such things as mold or soot removal, flattening, repair, rebinding and replacement of storage housings. Conservators can be found through these organizations:

Contact our conservator

Personal Records

Knowing you can quickly access important documents during emergencies like natural disasters, fires, or evacuations is part of emergency preparedness. Planning your emergency response will reduce the time it takes you and your family to recover from a disaster. Here’s a guide to help you prepare:

Identify Vital Records

Personal Identification:

  • Birth certificates
  • Social Security cards
  • Passports
  • Driver’s licenses

Legal Documents:

  • Wills, trusts, and power of attorney
  • Marriage or divorce certificates
  • Child custody papers

Financial/Asset Documents:

  • Bank account details
  • Credit card information
  • Tax returns
  • Property deeds or titles
  • Insurance policies (home, auto, life, health)

Health Records:

  • Immunization records
  • Medical history and prescriptions

Other Important Items:

  • Emergency contact lists
  • Recent utility bills (proof of residence)

Organize Your Documents

  • Use labeled folders or a binder with clear categories.
  • Create a checklist to ensure nothing is missing.
  • Store recent copies of regularly updated documents (e.g., tax returns).

Make Digital Copies

Scan or photograph documents and save them in:

  • An encrypted USB drive.
  • A secure cloud storage service.
  • Email (as a backup option).
  • Use password protection and encryption for digital files.

Create a Portable Emergency Kit

  • Use a waterproof and fireproof container for originals.
  • Include digital storage devices with your kit.
  • Keep the kit lightweight and portable for easy evacuation.

Store Safely at Home

  • Use a fireproof safe for your physical documents.
  • Place the safe in a discreet yet accessible location.
  • Avoid areas prone to flooding, such as basements.

Back-Up in a Secondary Location

Keep copies in a trusted location outside your home, such as:

Additional Resources