and grown, and—in general—preparedness and response policies, procedures, and processes have changed.
Definitions of the terms “emergency” and “disaster” vary as well. They separate workplace emergencies from home emergencies and describe activities as events or accidents that are unanticipated, unexpected, and/or unforeseen. These workplace events are characterized as resulting or occurring from man-made and/or natural factors threatening the workforce and constituents as well as events that cause operations to cease and/or the interruption and possible altering of workflow or services to customers, and/or the cause of damages to the physical, virtual, and/or digital workplace. Also included in most definitions is the impact on the organization and individuals working in the environment as well as using services and resources provided by the organization.
Other twenty-first-century issues include “Are disasters occurring at a greater rate, in greater numbers and—if so—why?” “Why might some natural disasters also be categorized as man-made?” “What are the contemporary challenges to preparedness and prevention of disasters?” “What are preparedness and prevention elements?”
Are disasters occurring at a greater rate, in greater numbers and—if so—why?
Yes, disasters are occurring at a greater rate and in greater numbers and, of course, we now know much more about the number and type of disasters happening everywhere given twenty-first-century communications. Although there are many reasons for these changes—in general—climate change, waning legislative protection, use of land, changing population patterns, and increasing populations are thought to be the primary reasons.
Why might some natural disasters also be categorized as man-made?
“Man’s” use of natural resources, the changing nature and growth of cities and diverse building patterns are just a few of the reasons why some disasters—historically thought of as natural—might now also be caused by man or considered “man made.”
What are the contemporary challenges to preparedness and prevention of disasters?
The preparedness and prevention of disasters has always been and continues to be challenging. Although most people would identify the United States as a country that could always successfully respond to disasters, given recent natural and man-made disasters, this is no longer a commonly held belief. Challenges for all countries then include aging infrastructures, lack of funding, changing natural resources, lack of coordination among the stakeholders, and lack of designated partnerships as well as—whether alone or cooperatively—a lack of strategic planning.
What are preparedness and prevention elements?
Although the basic elements of disasters have not changed appreciably over the past decades, certain elements are of more concern—depending on the disaster. For example, the impact of disasters has always been anticipated, but now, more than ever, the impact on human beings has been so much greater given contemporary knowledge of the medical and physical effect of disaster elements. Besides the human factor and immediate care, long-term care and rehabilitation, the social factor, and the economic impact and environmental impact are critical elements. Keeping this broad picture of the effect of disasters, the best preparedness and prevention elements include significant, strategic planning.
Categorizing examples of emergencies and disasters used to include relatively clear-cut divisions between natural and man-made. In twenty-first-century emergency preparedness or emergency management, however, several areas that used to be clearly defined as natural, now—in fact—could also be man-made.
Emergencies and/or Disasters
There are a myriad of lists of emergencies and disasters in emergency management literature. Many lists attempt to categorize these events into the standard “natural” and “man made,” while others—obviously—list only those events they “handle” or “cover” in their service or support. The following list is an attempt to merge all lists into one under general, umbrella terms. Obviously, emergencies and emergency recovery content overlap, and one event does not exclude another. For example, content on “fire” will more than likely include content from “water damage” and treatment for water damage might be a blend between “fire” recovery—even though materials may be burned or smoke damaged first—and flood recovery information.
That being said, general categories for emergencies include the following:
• Civil disturbances, conflicts, terrorism, and/or wars
• Earthquakes
• Explosions
• Fires (forest fires, wildfires, building/ground fires)
• Hazardous Materials (chemical spills/accidents, human elements, nuclear, oil spills, radiological accidents, toxic gas releases)
• Landslides
• Mass population displacement/refugee emigration/migrant encampment
• Pestilence/pest control
• Volcanic activity
• Water (dam failure, floods, tsunami)
• Weather (cyclones, droughts, heat, hurricanes, thunderstorms, tornados,
• Typhoons, winter)
• Workplace violence (bodily harm, trauma)
• Individuals (staff violence includes vandalism, armed/combat, threats)
• Individuals (nonstaff violence includes vandalism, armed/conflict, and/or combat and threats)
Natural Disasters and Libraries
Natural disasters can affect library buildings, surrounding library property (parking, outdoor venues), the infrastructure that supports delivery of library resources and services (communications, etc.), as well as library constituents, library staff, library partners, and—in general—the use of the library for typical transactions as well as use of resources and services to assist in emergency and disaster response and recovery. Natural disasters can occur within a library only, within the community where the library resides, or they can occur in and affect the library’s umbrella organization and larger community.
Earthquakes
Earthquake activity and the impact of earthquakes or earthquake activity exist in many locations in the world. In some locations, residents experience major impact that affect buildings, building infrastructures, and transportation structures, while other locations experience more subtle changes connecting to library resources or changes to buildings that are infrastructure, more so than visual devastation. Libraries—housed in a wide variety of buildings and locations—are obviously not immune from damage and destruction and not guaranteed to survive given the assortment of physical locations. Due to expenses of repairs and recovery, libraries must focus on assessing risks prior to activities, identifying potential issues for resources and services, insurance with reasonable deductibles, and repair and recovery processes.
Fires: Forest Fires, Wildfires, Buildings/Ground Fires
Obviously fires can be natural disasters or man-made disasters. The effect of fire can include—for libraries—major destruction of buildings, destruction of collections, repair and/or recovery of furniture, repair and/or recovery of hardware and software, and conservation of a collection with diverse
