Disaster Planning Resources
This document summarizes the resources, both internal to the University of Michigan and external, that ICPSR researched in the process of preparing components of its Disaster Plan.
Internal
University of Michigan Administrative Information Services (MAIS)
Broadly outlines the need for and function of UM Emergency Management, Business Continuity, and Disaster Recovery Planning. This site contains the Washtenaw County Hazard Ranking List, which prioritizes types of events by frequency and number of people affected. MAIS also provides templates for units to manage the planning, testing, and auditing of disaster and continuity programs.
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
This office authored the Standard Practice Guide: Institutional Data Resource Management Policy, which defines institutional data resources as University assets and makes recommendations on identifying, preserving, and providing access to these assets. ICPSR has identified its digital assets as University data resources, and is currently in line with requirements outlined by the above policy. For details on how ICPSR addresses these requirements, see "Disaster Planning at ICPSR," prepared by Nancy Y. McGovern, Digital Preservation Officer, ICPSR, February, 2007.
ISR
Emergency Action Plan
The Perry Building Emergency Action Plan (EAP) contains vital information on procedures to follow during an emergency. In addition to building-specific information such as exit maps and contact information, the plan outlines individual responsibilities in the event of a disaster; planning; evacuation procedures for fire, explosions, and hazardous materials incidents; severe weather shelter areas; bomb threats and suspicious packages; and building closings due to loss of power, gas, or water.
External Resources
Policy Planning Tools
Association of Public Treasurers of the United States and Canada: Disaster Policy Certification Guidelines
This is a planning document and template for disaster management policies, providing outlines and example
language on several facets of a strong policy, including the possible loss of a building, the replacement of
computer resources, and testing and training for the disaster plan. The plan also outlines the need to
identify possible threats to assets, this would be useful in combination with the Washtenaw County Hazard
Ranking List, contained on the MAIS Emergency Management Web page.
Examples of Disaster Planning Policies
Arkansas Secretary of State: Disaster Policy
This policy outlines areas of responsibility between departments and units, including training,
communication, and updating
Washington State Department of Information Services: Disaster Recovery and Business Resumption Planning Policy
This policy has content dealing with IT disaster recovery, which will be a vital component to ICPSR's
disaster plan. The policy provides guidelines on disaster recovery planning, and the maintenance, testing,
and training of the recovery plan.
Florida State University: Information Technology Disaster Recovery and Data Backup Policy
While the data backup portion is of limited use (ICPSR currently maintains a backup policy as part of its
preservation mission), the recovery section is of interest. The policy has a definition of Best Practice
Disaster Recovery Procedures, as well as an outline of the university's own IT recovery planning and
implementation procedures. This section of the policy is guided by the "IT Contingency Plan" contained
in NIST's Contingency Planning Guide for Information Technology Systems, which has guided much of
ICPSR's disaster planning to date.
Designing a Disaster Planning Program
Michigan State University: Unit Guide to Disaster Recovery Planning
This program breaks down the disaster planning process into steps, and provides information relevant to
individual units within a university setting.
Minnesota State Archives: Disaster Preparedness
This document is a detailed guide to the disaster planning process. While mostly dealing with paper
records, the document does a good job of identifying different roles and responsibilities for members of
the planning and recovery team. This is the most complete listing of these roles out of all the resources
listed here.
Cisco Systems: Disaster Recovery Best Practices White Paper
The paper outlines disaster recovery using the framework of the above resources, but tailors it to an IT
point of view. It has useful information on how to prepare and recover both hardware and software assets.
AT&T: Key Elements to an Effective Business Continuity Plan
A short paper that summarizes business continuity planning in the private sector.
Relevant Disaster Planning Programs
OCLC Digital Archive Preservation Policy and Supporting Documentation
This document has a clear articulation of OCLC's disaster policy, along with outlining disaster prevention
and recovery procedures and a time-frame for the restoration of services in the event of a disaster. The
policy includes a good definition of a disaster prevention and recovery plan: "A set of responses based
on sound principles and endorsed by senior management, which can be activated by trained staff with the
goal of preventing or reducing the severity of the impact of disasters and incidents." Interestingly, OCLC
embeds its disaster plan within its overall preservation policy, stating: "The goal of disaster prevention
is to safeguard the data (content and metadata) in the Digital Archive and to safeguard the Digital
Archive's software and systems. For disaster prevention and recovery, all data (content and metadata) is
considered of equal value."
Staff Training
dPlan.org
This site provides useful information on training and an online form that would be useful in assigning
trainers and monitoring the training process.
CalPreservation.org: Disaster Plan Exercise
This site offers roles and teaching points for a role-play training exercise that focuses on a disaster
in a library.
Examples and Tools for the Documentation Outlined by NIST Guide
The USDA has a full Disaster Recovery Plan, which outlines all of the documents outlined in the NIST Guide.
Business Continuity Plan (BCP)
There are several resources on this page that deal with continuity. ICPSR is currently completing the template provided by MAIS.
Continuity of Operations Programs (COOP)
FEMA: Continuity of Operations (COOP) Programs
This site contains useful information on government policy, templates, and training resources to assist
in the creation of COOP. Even though these are created for governmental agencies, they may be useful in
guiding the COOP drafting process for others.
Ready.gov: Continuity of Operations Planning
This site presents guidelines for composing a business COOP, including what outside actors should be
involved in the planning process.
The Florida Department of Health: Continuity of Operations Plan for Information Technology
This is a lengthy (40 pages) and detailed COOP template written for an IT environment.
Florida Atlantic University Libraries: Continuity of Operations Plan
This document is a detailed working COOP, which includes reactions to specific disaster scenarios.
Continuity of Support Plan/IT Contingency Plan
See the USDA Disaster Recovery Plan for an example of a Continuity of Support Plan/IT Contingency Plan.
Crisis Communication Plan
Ready.gov: Write a Crisis Communication Plan
This site suggests guidelines for composing a business disaster communication plan, and includes good
suggestions for the plan's Web presence.
NC State University: Crisis Communication Plan
This is the policy and plan for the University as a whole. While much of this policy deals with communication
at a high level, there are useful sections that may guide communication plans, such as whom to identify as
vital contacts within the organization (including whom to contact first), and how to manage external
communications. Other thorough university policies and plans include the LSU: Crisis Communication Plan
and the Missouri S&T: Crisis Communication Plan.
There are some disaster communication guidelines provided online by for-profit companies that offer crisis planning services. Two of these are FEI Behavioral Health: Crisis Management Disaster Communication Plan and LawBiz: Disaster Communication: Develop a Plan and Know How to Execute It.
Heritage Microfilm Flood Update Email
This email was sent in response to the June 2008 flooding that occurred in the Midwest. It updates clients
on the status of NewspaperArchive.com, which was temporarily offline due to a widespread power failure
resulting from the flood. It is an excellent example of an external crisis communication to users.
Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP)
DevX.com: How to Create a Disaster Recovery Plan
This is an online article on planning and testing a DRP in a for-profit organization.
University of Arkansas: Computing Services Disaster Recovery Plan
This document provides a complete and thorough plan that outlines the initiation of emergency and recovery
procedures, and addresses how the plan will be maintained.
Adams State College (CO): Information Technology Disaster Recovery Plan
This plan has a thorough section on risk assessment.
Written Resources
Johanna Wellheiser and Jude Scott. An Ounce of Prevention: Integrated Disaster Planning for Archives, Libraries, and Record Centres. 2002. Mirlyn Record This book is often cited in online guides and resources.
Richard J. Cox. Flowers After the Funeral: Reflections on the Post-9/11 Digital Age. 2003. Mirlyn Record
Graham Matthews and John Feather eds. Disaster Management for Libraries and Archives. 2003. Mirlyn Record
