Creating a Sustainable and Sharable Disaster Information Services Repository Website

The School of Information Science at the University of South Carolina (iSchool/UofSC) requests $19,872 for a one-year Region 2 Emergency Preparedness and Response Award to create and implement a sustainable and sharable disaster information service repository. The project aims are to: 1) create a repository website to document a summary of four research findings on libraries’ and librarians’ services before, during, and after disasters, including hurricanes, floodings, and wildfires; 2) promote the use of the Network of National Library of Medicine (NNLM) and the National Library of Medicine (NLM) resources and other essential professional materials (e.g., materials released by the Northeast Document Conservation Center) for evidence-based information access by librarians and the general public; 3) provide several essential professional toolkits/materials that can help libraries create disaster preparedness plans on the website. This creation supports the NLM’s Strategic Plan, 2017-2027, especially on the second pillar—“Engage a wide range of audiences to ensure the right information gets delivered to them at the right time.” By creating this proposed repository website, summaries of the team’s research findings, essential professional resources identified, and sample service models can be shared widely with information professionals. Ultimately, these resources can aid in libraries building a better culture of disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. Moreover, the MLA’s Disaster Information Specialization program will sunset in April 2023; there is a timely need to provide a resource hub for librarians to access. The proposed disaster information services repository website has great potential to become a source of information for information professionals to identify research evidence and recommended resources for user services.