Feili Tu-Keefner [Associate Professor, School of Library and Information Science, University of South Carolina] discusses her research into the role public librarians have played in times of crisis, and shares lessons learnt.
Content includes: Nature of the research; Public libraries involvement in facilitating emergency response and recovery before, during and after the disasters; Successful collaboration with other sectors and challenges faced; Role of technology; Skills and competencies required by professional librarians.
Featured resources
The following resources featured in Feili’s presentation:
- Maximize the Potential of Your Public Library
This includes Georgetown County Library “The Hurricane Project” case study, 2011. - Librarian’s Disaster Planning and Community Resiliency Guidebook and Workbook
New Jersey State Library toolkit.
- dPlan™: The Online Disaster-Planning Tool for Cultural and Civic Institutions
- Houston Public Library: Hurricane Preparedness
- Training Courses for the Disaster Information Specialist Program
“a collection of resources on free training and education for professionals interested in identifying, using, and sharing disaster health information.”
- Emergency Preparedness & Disaster Recovery Resources
National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM).
Additional resources were shared by participants during the webinar, via the chatbox:
- NNLM funding opportunities
In the US, NLM [National Library of Medicine] coordinates eight regional libraries, each region has its own funding and grants available. - Webliography of US Libraries active in disasters
- MLA Disaster Information Specialization
Webinar participant: “Have taken the advanced DIS cert – can’t recommend it highly enough.”
Dr. Feili Tu-Keefner is from Taipei, Taiwan; she came to the School of Library and Information Science in Fall 2003. She has six years’ experience working for the Library of Congress equivalent in Taiwan, including three and a half years as a reference librarian and periodicals manager in a computing and informatics library.