Microsoft Word - ART_McKnight.doc Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:3 59 Evidence Based Library and Information Practice Article Choices in Chaos: Designing Research into Librarians’ Information Services Improvised During a Variety of Community‐Wide Disasters in order to Produce Evidence‐Based Training Materials for Librarians Michelynn McKnight, PhD, AHIP Assistant Professor, Louisiana State University School of Library and Information Science Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA Email: mmck@lsu.edu Lisl Zach, PhD Assistant Professor, Drexel University College of Information Science and Technology Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Email: Lisl.zach@ischool.drexel.edu Received: 4 April 2007 Accepted: 27 July 2007 © 2007 McKnight and Zach. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Objective ‐ Disasters can and do happen anywhere, and library clients’ information needs change suddenly during community‐wide disasters. Library research and literature about disasters emphasize issues relevant to the protection of staff and collections and the return to normal services. Most of these reports lack any discussion about the special services librarians can provide during disasters. This project investigated the ways librarians develop new services during disasters and examined the most appropriate methods of gathering and analyzing data regarding such services. Results of this preliminary research aided preparation of a proposed larger scale project. Methods ‐ This paper reports on the design of a research project to study librarians’ information services during a variety of community‐wide disasters. The choice of a research design was informed by the results of earlier preliminary studies and other research method explorations. mailto:mmck@lsu.edu mailto:zach@ischool.drexel.edu http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:3 60 Results ‐ A study was proposed using multiple case study and grounded theory methods to gather data on such activities. Conclusion ‐ The resulting proposed project was funded by the United States Institute for Museum and Library Services National Leadership Program “Investigating Library and Information Services During Community‐Based Disasters: Preparing Information Professionals to Plan for the Worst,” This larger project will research and develop evidence based training materials for library students and practitioners. In this paper the preliminary studies are outlined together with the proposed methodology and timeline for the larger project. “All disasters are chaos – but you always have choices” – Kim Moore (Director of Emergency Services, Norman Regional Hospital, Norman, OK) discussing emergency responses after Oklahoma City’s May 3, 1999 outbreak of F4 and F5 tornadoes and the bombing of the Murrah Building April 19, 1995. (Personal communication, June 1999.) Introduction Community‐wide disasters are neither rare nor limited to certain geographical areas of the world. According to the latest World Disaster Report there were 744 such disasters in 2005 and an average of 614 such disasters per year in the years 1996‐2005 (Walter 207). Places that may not be susceptible to hurricanes, earthquakes, or tsunamis may suffer from floods, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, or other windstorms. Accidental technological disasters (unrelated to wars or acts of terrorism) can result from power blackouts, explosions, toxic releases, industrial and transportation accidents, and other causes. Populations served by all kinds of libraries, information services, and resource centers are directly affected by these disasters. “Disaster planning” in library and information science parlance currently means planning for system and collection protection during a localized emergency, but not necessarily planning for provision of information services during or after a community‐wide disaster. An “emergency” can be defined as follows: … a situation or an occurrence of a serious nature, developing suddenly and unexpectedly, and demanding immediate action … generally of short duration, for example, for a week or less. It may involve electrical failure or minor flooding caused by broken pipes. (36 USC Sec.1236.14 (2005) By contrast, a “disaster” can be defined as “an unexpected occurrence inflicting widespread destruction and distress and having long‐term adverse effects” (36 USC Sec. 1236.14 (2005). Back‐up plans for normal services based on agreements with another library in the same community may work in a brief localized emergency, but not in a community‐wide disaster lasting more than a few days. Appendix A lists examples of U.S. libraries affected by such disasters in recent years. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:3 61 Textbook studies on implementing new library services tell us about the value of thoughtful data collection for information needs analysis, planning, testing, and evaluation of services (Bopp and Smith 177‐ 305). However, what really happens when a community’s information needs suddenly change, and there is no time to plan? How do librarians continue to serve a community when the users’ needs have changed dramatically, and the usual access to information sources is severely reduced or non‐existent? After the hurricanes of 2005 battered most of the Gulf of Mexico coast of the United States, information providers – even those with traditional “disaster plans” in place, were taken completely by surprise. How do librarians deal with a barrage of questions about food, health services, social security checks and other necessities of life? How do they support displaced children without access to books to complete homework assignments? How do they assist researchers trying to meet proposal deadlines with no Internet access? There is a need for evidence‐based guidelines and education modules to prepare students and practitioners to provide such services during community‐ wide disasters. To develop such materials requires research into instances when librarians have quickly created new services to meet the emergency needs of their client communities. This was the objective of the preliminary studies described in the first part of this paper: What did librarians do when there was no time for planning? Disasters vary, and so do the services needed by communities. Are there any common patterns of librarians’ planning and implementation of such services in a wide variety of communities and disasters? The preliminary studies led to the larger research question: “How can we discover patterns describing how librarians develop new information services needed when disaster strikes the community?” Other questions were also implied: “What data will answer the question?” and “How can such data be gathered?” Suitable methods of data collection and analysis were examined in order to develop a research proposal for funding from the United States Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The new proposal was approved for a research project that will focus on librarians’ responses to disasters in the U.S. The eventual results of this research should, however, have implications for librarians’ responses to disasters throughout the world. The methodology and timeline of the larger project are described in the second half of this paper. Literature Review There is a long history of library disaster planning literature dealing with resource protection during a localized emergency. The available research on library disaster planning is almost entirely limited to protection and restoration of library staff, systems, collections, and physical plants during local emergencies. In schools of library and information science, “disaster planning” is usually covered in conjunction with general management, collection development, or preservation – not in the context of information services. It is not covered anywhere in the current edition of Bopp and Smith’s Reference and Information Services: an Introduction, nor in William A. Katz’ Basic Information Services, both widely used texts for information services courses. Two current examples of disaster planning texts are Halsted, Jasper, and Little’s Disaster Planning: A How‐to‐do‐it Manual for Librarians with Planning Templates on CD‐ROM, and Kahn’s Disaster Response and Planning for Libraries. Both emphasize assignment of staff responsibilities to insure the security and recovery of a library and its staff after a major emergency. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:3 62 Searches of the major bibliographic databases covering library and information science literature provide numerous accounts telling how individual libraries dealt with collection protection in a particular localized emergency, such as a power or plumbing failure. The provision of library services during the emergency and recovery period is rarely mentioned, however, except in the context of restoration of normal service. It is seldom discussed as a service response to community information needs created by the disaster (Baggett; Benefiel and Mosley; Knisley; Rogers). Alire’s Disaster Response and Planning for Libraries is the only current text with a substantial section on the restoration of normal service after a community‐wide disaster. It includes several accounts of service restoration in the Colorado State University Library after a flood. Some reports (e.g., Schlotzhauer, Watkins) describe the addition of links on a library’s web site, but this is more about added resources than about new services responsive to the changing needs of the community. This could be viewed as surprising for a profession that emphasizes service first and the resources for providing the service second, particularly in an era in which distance services and virtual reference services are growing exponentially. A few accounts describe librarians’ services improvised during a single disaster or during a small number of similar disasters. They are characterized by describing the “heroic efforts” of specific individual librarians, and they tend to be anecdotal and idiosyncratic. Their recommendations are not based on generalizable evidence (Fletcher; Simmons and Dover; Schwanke; Tarin; Taylor; Whelan). There is limited coverage, especially from Europe, of individual instances of public library support services for government officials and public health workers, but none of the recommendations are based on broader research into meeting community‐ wide information needs in more than one disaster (Heyworth; Polloni and Harkins; Riley and Meadows). Another related example is Harris, Wathen, and Chan’s account of Ontario libraries’ reference services for consumers during the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Toronto. There is a lack of evidence in the professional literature describing how libraries can deal with community‐wide disasters. This paper describes a series of preliminary studies that gathered data on how librarians in the U.S. have provided services in such disasters. These provided a foundation to solicit funding for a larger scale research project that will develop evidence based training materials for library students and practitioners. This paper also outlines the proposed methodology and timeline for the larger project. Preliminary Studies In differing contexts, the authors were participants in the implementation of extraordinary information services in Louisiana during and immediately after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The studies developed over time, using several methods to gather quantitative and qualitative data to discover what services were improvised during that disaster. Within days of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall, informal assessments of the responses of librarians to the disaster were collected. This included anecdotal information through personal observation, participant observation, formal interviews, conversations, and monitoring electronic mail lists. It appeared that librarians around the state were responding to the disaster in many different ways, and that few, if any, Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:3 63 were following any predetermined plan. (Dawson and McCook; Dempsey; Fletcher; Kniffel; McCoy; McKnight “Medical Reference ”; McKnight “Information Services”; McKnight “Health Sciences”; McKnight “Mobile Shelter”; Meraz; Morris; Spencer; Tadman; Zach “First‐Hand Thoughts”; Zach “No Time to Plan”) This prompted formulation of an overarching research question to guide this assessment: “Did Louisiana libraries have any systematic approach to providing new services to meet users’ extraordinary needs after Hurricane Katrina, August 29, 2005?” Two sub‐questions emerged in those locations where libraries were providing services, • “What services were provided?” • “How did libraries determine what was needed?” Less than a month after Hurricane Katrina, these research questions were extended to include Louisiana librarians’ service responses to Hurricane Rita (September 23, 2005). Methods In October 2005, a 22‐question survey (Appendix B) was announced on all of the Louisiana library mail lists including those of the Louisiana Library Association (LLA), Louisiana Academic Library Information Network Consortium (LALINC), local chapters of the American Library Association (ALA), the Medical Library Association (MLA), the Society of American Archivists (SAA) and the Special Library Association (SLA). The survey was also sent to school media center coordinators and public library administrators. The survey was developed and administered with SurveyMonkey® online survey software. After gathering descriptive information about the current state of the library, the survey asked respondents to identify new information services that their organizations were providing in response to the hurricanes. Selected respondents who indicated they had created these new information services participated in short open‐ended interviews (by telephone and in person) about their projects. Because this study developed in response to events, rather than being planned as a formal pilot study, the exact number of interviews was not tallied. The findings of the survey were later augmented with participant observations of specific new information services. These studies were conducted by faculty and students from Louisiana State University School of Library and Information Science. Results Because of the distribution method (a link to the survey site in a generic e‐mail message), it is impossible to calculate the total number of librarians who received the link. Usable responses were received from 269 librarians who reported they worked in the types of institutions in Table 1. The majority of responses came from librarians whose institutions had sustained little or no direct damage from the hurricanes. Of those responding to the question, 84.1 % reported little or no damage to their collections and 78.2 % reported little or no damage to their buildings. Others, however, were less fortunate, and several responses were from librarians who had evacuated from their communities and did not know the condition of their buildings or collections. Almost half (48.9 %) of those responding reported that they had continued operations without interruption; at the time of the survey, 8.5 % of those responding had moved operations to another location, and 12.1 % were closed until further notice. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:3 64 Academic libraries 94 35% Archives or Historical Repositories 29 11% Public Libraries 52 19% School Media Centers 37 14% Special Libraries or Other 54 20% No response to the “type” question 3 1% Total number respondents 269 100% Table 1: Survey Respondents Reported by Library Type Of those who did have general disaster plans in place before the hurricanes, only 25 (less than 10 %) said that they used their plan. Reasons given for not implementing the plans included: the damage to the buildings and surrounding areas was greater than anticipated by the plans, lack of authority, lack of funds, or lack of personnel. Seventy‐five (25%) librarians reported having added new services in direct response to the hurricanes. The services included extended service hours, new outreach locations, new websites, new evacuee‐specific services, and special services for displaced adults and children. Some extended loan periods or suspended fines. Others provided wireless Internet access, delivered reading material to evacuee shelters, provided program matching services to guide displaced students in their choice of new schools. Libraries provided office space to displaced librarians, issued temporary borrowing cards to displaced users, provided free photocopying, and read stories to children in evacuee shelters. Some began new computer lab instruction programs, provided refreshments, facilitated communication with their local Emergency Operations Center, arranged transportation for evacuees, collected donations, helped evacuees search online for missing family members and pets, and helped evacuees replace drivers’ licenses, birth certificates, and other important documents. Most that instituted new services indicated that they would continue these services as long as they were needed. Librarians who implemented new services reported that their emergency needs assessment was based on personal observations, requests from users, and discussions with internal staff, governing boards, and information professionals outside of the institution. Thirty‐nine (14%) respondents said that they did have some sort of plan in place that addressed the potential need for new information services in response to a crisis. The librarians who were interviewed as part of the follow‐up survey focused on the level of general chaos in the immediate aftermath of the hurricanes and on the need to take quick and decisive actions based on whatever situation they might have encountered at a given moment. Their response showed that their post‐Katrina responsibilities went far beyond collection protection, technical services, and financial management. They emphasized the point that during times of crisis it is essential for librarians to be flexible enough to respond to the needs of their users and that a useful tool for any librarian to have is a very open mind about what types of services may fall within the aegis of the library (Zach “First‐ Hand Thoughts”). Participant observation, observation, and interviews produced data Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:3 65 which has been analyzed and reported elsewhere (McKnight “Medical Reference”). Designing a larger study Data collected in the preliminary studies did not answer the “what” and “how” questions needed for a study of responses during multiple disasters. Based on that fact and on subsequent discussions with researchers experienced in qualitative methodologies, a larger study was designed to gather evidence of common practice patterns in diverse disasters. This study would incorporate a research method based on in‐ depth interviews, multiple case studies, and narrative data analysis to build a grounded theory of librarians’ information services during a variety of kinds of community disasters. Creswell explains the value of grounded theory research as being a focus on the object of the research: “[for] the development or generation of a theory closely related to the context of the phenomenon being studied” (56). Baker, Wuest and Stern describe this situational focus more explicitly: “… [The] researchers’ purpose in grounded theory is to explain a given social situation by identifying the core and subsidiary processes operating in it. The core process is the guiding principle underlying what is occurring in the situation and dominates the analysis because it links most of the other processes involved in an explanatory network.” (1357) Approximately twenty participants will be chosen to provide a sample of information professionals who have faced different types of community‐based disasters in a variety of institutional settings. Selection criteria for the interviews will include: type of disaster faced, size or type of institution, geographic location, and scheduling constraints. Data will be collected using a semi‐structured interview protocol, and the interviews will be audiotaped and transcribed for referential adequacy. Participants will be asked to sign an informed consent form, and data collected in the interview phase of the study will be kept confidential in most cases. Specific identifiable experiences may be reported in the case studies developed during the second phase of the project (described later in this paper), with the permission of the interviewees. Interviewees will be given the opportunity to review all case study materials before they are released (“member checks”). In addition to the data collected during the interviews, the researchers will examine any other available data sources (e.g., existing disaster plans, flyers or brochures for new services, archived web sites). These sources will be used to provide additional richness to the personal narratives. The interviews will be carried out using a “multiple‐case‐studies” design (Zach “Using”). The multiple‐case‐studies design will allow the researchers to use subsequent interviews to confirm or disprove the patterns identified in earlier sessions. In practice, this means that the interview protocol may be revised during the course of the study in response to new information. The interviews will be sequenced, so that the first group of interviewees will have many characteristics (e.g., size or type of institution, type of disaster) in common (“literal replication”). These interviews will provide (as far as possible) a baseline of types of responses and obstacles encountered by practitioners. The remaining interviews will be selected to explore and confirm or disprove the patterns identified in the initial interviews (“theoretical replication”) and to expand the list of responses and obstacles encountered. This approach will allow the researchers to identify common elements of disasters Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:3 66 response that can be codified and presented as best practices. Data will be coded using QSR NVivo 7 text analysis software. NVivo is a qualitative research tool that allows researchers to search text and organize concepts efficiently for further analysis. It is also helps researchers collect data from different sources into a single, compatible format for coding. Based on the results of the data collection from librarian interviews, the researchers will identify five to seven common elements that appear to exemplify a successful approach to planning and delivering new information services in response to community‐based disasters. Common elements to be addressed will include, but will not be limited to, the following: • Type of information need identified (e.g., health, basic needs, specialized data) • Type of user (e.g., existing, new, transient, long‐term, adult, youth) • Type of resources sought (e.g., public or proprietary) • Type of new or modified service provided • Type of obstacles overcome The researchers will develop case study materials to exemplify the best practices identified during the data collection and analysis phase. The material developed will be a combination of generic case studies (demonstrating one or more common elements found across several interviews) and individual explanatory case studies (in which a single situation is described in depth to provide pedagogical tools for discussing a variety of responses to the issues). Each case study will include a general description of the particular community‐based disaster, the responses taken by the information professional(s) involved, and a guide for discussing the issues involved in the situation. This methodology was put forward as a proposal and was successful in receiving funding from the United States Institute for Museum and Library Services National Leadership program. The study will be under the oversight of an advisory committee (Table 2) whose members will communicate primarily via e‐mail and a project blog. How the study will progress A large pool of libraries is being developed using personal contacts, a literature review, and through a call for participation in dozens of librarians’ electronic mail lists. A SurveyMonkey.com site http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=718 283553604 has been established for interested parties. To date it has been relatively easy to find libraries in communities that have experienced disasters. People are usually eager to tell their stories, because disasters have profound emotional effects. Friends and colleagues frequently suggest names of librarians and libraries affected by disasters. The challenge has been to identify the few who actually created new information services. A project web site will provide open access to data throughout the course of the study. The initial data gathering phase of the study should conclude by the end of 2007, the analysis will be conducted in 2008, and the results subsequently published in 2009. The results of this study will be made available to practitioners in the field as a compendium of best practices in the form of http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=718 Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:3 67 Theresa Jay Dickson, Associate Director, Pioneer Library System, Norman, Oklahoma Carol L.Ginsburg, Senior Consultant, BST America, New York, New York Deborah Halsted, Associate Director, Houston Academy of Medicine/Texas Medical Center Library, Houston, Texas Delia Neuman, Associate Professor, College of Information Studies, University of Maryland ‐ College Park, Maryland Sue Sherif, School Library/Youth Services Coordinator Alaska State Library, Anchorage, Alaska Table 2. Advisory Committee case‐study examples of various types of disaster response scenarios. Curriculum modules based on the results will also be implemented in the researchers’ courses taught at Louisiana State University and Drexel University. These modules will be made available to other library and information science programs. In this way the experiences of practitioners in the field may be transmitted to future information professionals. All too often, information professionals have had to improvise quickly to provide services in times of disasters. The results of this research project will save them precious time and allow them to make vital information resources available more effectively during times of crisis. Conclusion Librarians need evidence‐based case studies and educational material to help them learn how to identify needed information services during any kind of community‐wide disaster and to respond to these needs creatively. Since this preparation is not currently included in LIS education, standards and guidelines or research literature, there is a need for reliable studies of these phenomena in a variety of libraries and a variety of disasters. Following preliminary work and an examination of various quantitative, qualitative and mixed data gathering methods, a study was designed and received funding for the next two years. Acknowledgement A version of this paper was presented at the 4th International Evidence Based Librarianship Conference, held in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA (May 2007). See http://www.eblip4.unc.edu/papers/McKnight.pdf Works Cited Alire, Camila. Library Disaster Planning and Recovery Handbook. New York: Neal‐ Schuman, 2000. Baggett, James L. “Handle with Care: Disaster Planning and Recovery.” Alabama Libraries 53.2 (2003): 5. Baker, Cynthia, Judith Wuerst, and Phyllis Noerager Stern. “Method Slurring: the Grounded Theory/Phenomenology Example.” Journal of Advanced Nursing 17.11 (Nov. 1992): 1355‐60. 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Zach, Lisl. “Using a Multiple‐Case‐Studies Design to Investigate the Information‐ Seeking Behavior of Arts Administrators.” Library Trends 55.1 (2006): 4‐21. 71 APPENDIX A Examples of U.S. Libraries Providing Services During Community‐Wide Natural or Accidental Disasters 1997‐2007 (Data collected by the authors) Date Disaster Library Library Type 1997 Flood Colorado State Libraries Academic 1998 Earthquake Olympia Timberland Library, WA Public 1998 Tornadoes Hanson‐McCook County Regional Library, SD Public 1998 Flood Jonsson Library of Government Documents, Stanford, CA Special library 1999 Flood Edgecombe County Courthouse Archives, NC Archives and Historical Collection 1999 Tornadoes South Oklahoma City Community College, Oklahoma City, OK Academic 1999 Tornadoes Moore Public Library, Moore, OK Public 1999 Tornadoes Norman Regional Hospital Library, Norman, OK Special library 2000 Tornadoes Fort Worth Central Public Library, TX Public 2000 Earthquake Engineering Library and Fisheries Oceanography Library, University of Washington, Seattle, WA Special library 2000 Blackout Helen de Roy Medical Library, Providence Hospital and Medical Centers, MI Special library 2001 Flood Houston Academy of Medicine – Texas Medical Center, Houston,TX Archives and Historical Collection 2001 Tornadoes National Agricultural Library, MD Special library 2003 Wild Fire San Diego State University, San Diego, CA Academic 2003 Wild Fire San Bernadino Public Library, CA Public 2003 Wild Fire Escondido Public Library, CA Public 2003 Wild Fire San Diego County Library, CA Public 2003 Blackout New York Public Library Public 2004 Flood University of Hawaii at Manoa Academic 2004 Hurricanes Union County Public Library, NC Public 2005 Hurricane Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Library Academic 2005 Hurricane Archdiocese of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA Archives and Historical Collection 2005 Hurricane Pass Christian Public Library, MS Public 2005 Hurricane Vermilion Parish Library, LA Public 2005 Hurricane DeLisle Public Schools, DeLisls,MS School 2005 Hurricane McKinley High School, LA School 2005 Flood Bonne Ecole Elementary, Slidell, LA School 72 2005 Flood Chalmette High School, St. Bernard Parish,Chalmette, LA School 2005 Hurricane Ochsner Clinic and Foundation Library, LA Special library 2006 Flood Smithridge Elementary School, Reno, NV School 2006 Toxic chemical (chlorine) spill Byrd Elementary and Levelle‐ McCampbell Middle School, Aiken County, GA School 73 Appendix B Information Professionals Responses to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita [Distributed via SurveyMonkey.com 10/18/2005] 1. Where is/was your information organization? (If you are responsible for several libraries that were affected differently by Hurricanes Katrina and/or Rita please forward this survey to the individuals who can answer questions at the local level.) o City/Town o Parish/County o State o Zip Code 2. Please describe your information organization: o Academic Library o Archives/Historical Repository o Public Library o School Media Center o Special Library/Information Center o Other (please specify) 3. What was the pre‐hurricane size of your staff? o Number of full‐time staff _________ o Number of part‐time staff _________ 4. What was the pre‐hurricane size of your collection? (Please select whichever measures are most appropriate for your organization.) o Volumes o Linear feet o Manuscript pieces o Microforms o Electronic resources o Other (please describe) 5. Did your collection sustain physical damage as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and/or Rita? o No damage to collection o Minor damage to collection o Moderate damage to collection o Significant damage to collection o Don’t know condition of collection/unable to access o Other (please describe) 6. Did your building sustain physical damage as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and/or Rita? o No damage to building o Minor damage to building o Moderate damage to building o Significant damage to building o Don’t know condition of building/unable to access o Other (please describe) 74 7. Did your information organization lose equipment and/or furniture as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and/or Rita? (Please check all that apply.) o Computers o Copiers o Microform readers o Desks/chairs/tables o Shelving/storage units o Other (please describe) 8. Did your staff size change as a result of the hurricanes? o Yes o No 9. If yes how? o Decreased by: ____ o Increased by: ____ 10. In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and/or Rita did your library: o Continue operations without interruptions o Continue operations on a reduced basis o Suspend operations temporarily o Move to a new location o Close until further notice o Other (please describe) 11. If you are not currently providing services when do you expect to resume operations? o Approximate date: ________ 12. If you are currently providing services did you add any new services in direct response to the hurricanes? o Yes o No 13. If yes please identify each new service added: (Please check all that apply.) o Extended hours o New outreach/satellite locations o New website with links to disaster relief information o Additional reference/referral services for displaced/evacuated users o Special services for displaced/evacuated children o Other (please describe) 14. How did you determine that there was a need for new services? (Please check all that apply.) o Personal observation o Requests from users o Discussions with internal/branch staff o Discussions with library board/advisory committee o Discussions with other information professionals (outside of organization) 75 o Other (please describe) 15. If you added any new services in direct response to the hurricanes are you still offering them? o Yes o No o Some but not all 16. Please describe any obstacles that you encountered in adding and/or maintaining new services. 17. Please list any services that you have eliminated as a result of the hurricanes. 18. Did you have a disaster and/or recovery plan in place at the time of the hurricanes that specifically addressed the potential need for new information services in response to a crisis? o Yes o No 19. If you had a disaster and/or recovery plan have you been able to implement it? o Yes o No 20. If not why not? (Please check all that apply.) o Damage was far greater than anticipated o Did not predict nature of the crisis o Lack of authority to implement plan o Lack of funds o Lack of personnel o Other (please describe) 21. Please share any experiences and/or suggestions that you think would be helpful to other information professionals facing a crisis situation. 22. If you would be willing to be interviewed about your libraryʹs responses to Hurricanes Katrina and/or Rita please fill out the following information: o Your Name o Organizationʹs Name o Phone o Email