Digital Disaster
Definition of Project
The main topic of this bibliography is disaster planning for digital materials. A disaster if defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “a sudden calamitous event bringing great damage, loss, or destruction.” For the purposes of this bibliography, the focus is the importance of a digital disaster plan to ensure the continued preservation of digital materials, for an institution to be perceived as trustworthy, how to create a plan to mitigate the potential loss of digital materials, and the importance of testing the disaster plan. Subtopics that are covered include loss due to natural disasters, fire, power outages, malicious attacks, or other unforeseen circumstances of this nature. Not included in the bibliography are plans that relate to the failure to backup data, obsolescence, or other data loss events that occur due to negligence.
Annotations
Al-Badi, A., Ashrafi, R., Al-Majeeni, A., & Mayhew, P.J. (2009). IT disaster recovery: Oman and Cyclone Gonu lessons learned. Information Management & Computer Security, 17(2), 114-126. http://dx.doi.org.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/10.1108/09685220910963992
This article provides an important look at the impact that not having a disaster recovery (DR) plan in place had on businesses in Oman after Cyclone Gonu hit. Many businesses in Oman did not have a tested disaster plan in place and lost a great deal of their digital data. The authors note that when organizations that they surveyed were asked if they were prepared for catastrophic climate events “only 33 percent of organizations said they were, 42 percent felt that they were partially prepared, and 25 percent indicated that they were not prepared,” (p. 122). The respondents all claimed that the disasters they experienced shows that they could improve their plans. A major area of improvement that the authors discovered was to complete a full-scale test of the disaster plan to gauge the effectiveness and to determine any areas of improvement. The paper provides additional evidence that it is important for all institutions to have DRs in place and that the current literature and best practices should be reviewed to mitigate costs and loss from potential disasters. This article is useful because it highlights the importance of having a plan and what institutions that have faced a disaster would do differently.
Bansal, J. (2015). Disaster management in libraries: An overview. Gyankosh, 6(1), 9-13. http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/docview/1780481361?accountid=14925
In the article, Bansal describes the vital role that libraries and information centers need to plain in preserving collections and other items held in their institutions. Libraries are vulnerable to all types of disasters and as technology develops it also changes disaster planning. The goals of a good disaster plan according to Bansal are to: prevent loss, minimize impact, enhance capabilities, prepare staff, and respond to disaster quickly and efficiently to disaster. He further covers the importance of having a clear and concise plan, as well as performing full-scale mock drills to ensure that staff is well trained. This concise article provides an overview of what a disaster plan needs to accomplish. In addition, the paper highlights the important role that libraries and information centers play in disaster planning.
Cervone, F. (2017). Disaster recovery planning and business continuity for informaticians. Digital Library Perspectives, 33(2), 78-81. http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/docview/1942254847?accountid=14925
In his article, Cervone discusses the importance of creating a formal disaster recovery plan (DRP). He states that while many projects form organically it is still important to have a formal document written to ensure that the project is sustainable in the long-term. He also discusses that many organizations must follow federal mandates that may require a formal documentation of their DRP. Cervone also discusses the process for developing a DRP which includes a business impact and risk analysis. It is also emphasized that DRPs will likely not look the same between organizations and that they should not. A DRP evaluates the critical needs of each specific institution and focus more on likely disasters. Cervone uses the example “in Chicago, few organizations focus much planning for a local earthquake, but planning for a flood is commonplace.” (80). He concludes that it is up to the organization to weigh the cost of creating a DRP versus the risk of not having one in place if disaster were to occur.
El-Tamtamy, O., Majdalawieh, M., & Pumphrey, L. (2016). Assessing IT disaster recovery plans: The case of publicly listed forms on Abu Dhabi/UAE Security Exchange. Information and Computer Security, 24(5), 514-533. http://dx.doi.org.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/10.1108/ICS-04-2016-0030
The focus of this article is to evaluate publicly listed companies listed on the Abu Dhabi securities exchange to assess their disaster recovery plans (DRP). This assessment included determining if the companies had a plan in place, if it was well documented, if the employees were aware of the plan, and what each company thought was the most significant risk to their operations. A majority of the companies surveyed had a DRP and the most highly ranked consequence of not having a plan that could be used was the loss of confidence in the organization that would arise from data loss. The majority of top management for these companies were reported as being committed to their DRPs. This article relates that the top management being committed to the amount that the employees knew about the DRP and the preparedness steps taken to evaluate the DRP. Management support is outlined as one of the most critical aspects to developing a DRP. There is value in this article because the research shows how important it is to have everyone committed to the plan and highlights what happens when top level management does show commitment to the disaster plan.
Fleischer, S.V., & Heppner, M.J. (2009). Disaster planning for libraries and archives: What you need to know and how to do it. Library and Archival Security, 22(2), 125-140.
In this article Fleischer and Heppner give an overview of all the important steps to create a disaster plan and why it is so critical to develop one. “Disasters happen every day. The severity often depends on how we respond and how prepared we are to act.” (2009). It is crucial for a library and archive to have a disaster plan in place for not only their rare and expensive collections, but everything that is housed in the institution. The costs of not developing a plan are time, money, and loss of reputation which can do serious damage to an institution. In the article a basic formulation for how to develop a plan is given, while there is a great deal of helpful advice it is not a step-by=step guide to creating a disaster plan. The main plan is outlined as create a project proposal, gather information, create and implement the plan, train staff, and maintain the plan. This article is a wonderful starting point for any institution or department that is interested in developing a disaster plan.
Frank, R. & Yakel, E. (2013). Disaster planning for digital repositories. American Society for Information Science and Technology, 50(1), 1-10.
Frank and Yakel discuss the importance pursuing a trusted digital repository has on whether an institution develops a disaster recovery plan. Their research shows that this pursuit has a great effect on whether an institution will have a formally documented disaster plan; many institutions only developed the plan due to the auditing process that took place in pursuit of this status. Frank and Yakel note that there is a lack of transparency when dealing with the disaster plan documentation which is a key tenet of trustworthy digital repository status. They also note that there are several obstacles in place for institutions to create a formal disaster plan. A commonly noted problem is disconnect between digital curators/preservationists and other departments on the need for the plan, particularly information technology departments. Another obstacle was the amount of time that the creation of a policy would take and the funds and resources to develop the policy. The article concludes that the main reason that many institutions that were seeking trusted digital repository status developed a disaster plan was because it offered an incentive, and often a mandate, to develop one.
Gracy, K.F. & Kahn, M.B. (2012). Preservation in the digital age: A review of preservation literature, 2009-10. Library Resources & Technical Services, 56(1), 25-43. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271259707_Preservation_in_the_Digital_Age
Gracy and Kahn provide an in-depth review on the literature that was published about preservation from the years 2009 to 2010. This is useful because it highlights the change of how information is created and stored during some of the major technological changes in the past decade. This highlights the different approaches disaster planning will have to take because of the mass digitization of analog materials and the boom in digital-born materials. This article also provides a great starting point to conducting research as there are many great references cited.
Kostagiolas, P. Araka, L., Theodorou, R., & Bokos, G. (2011). Disaster management approaches for academic libraries: an issue not to be neglected in Greece. Library Management, 32(8), 516-530. http://dx.doi.org.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/10.1108/01435121111187888
This article describes the lack of disaster planning by academic libraries in Greece, highlights the reasons why there has not been planning, describes the importance of creating a plan, and gives an overview of what the plan should include. The authors presume that the economic situation that Greece finds itself in is a major factor in the lack of disaster planning, the lack of funds and staffing to create the plan. There is also the issue that academic libraries in Greece are dependent on the decisions made at the institutional level which limits what they can focus their resources on. Greece is an earthquake prone country and many Greek libraries are considered “memoryless” because a formal plan in place there could be serious issues for academic libraries to be restored. The authors do explain what should be done to create a disaster plan and what the plan should include. This is a great resource to use because while there is a significant amount of literature about disaster planning in the United States, Northern Europe, Australia, and New Zealand there is little literature available covering other countries.
Oehlerts, B., & Liu, S. (2013). Digital preservation strategies at Colorado State University libraries. Library Management, 34(1), 83-95.
This article discusses the importance of digital preservation and disaster planning in libraries with a focus on what the Colorado State University Libraries (CSUL) are doing. In 1997 CSUL experience major flooding which brought into sharp perspective the need for a disaster plan and the need to focus on more digital preservation techniques. The article highlights what CSUL is doing to preserve, backup, and maintains their digital collection as a risk management solution in the case of another disaster. Oehlerts and Liu make excellent points about the importance of digital preservation in terms of disaster planning. They also include a lengthy literature review that spans a number of countries which provides other resources to researchers. This research is especially useful because it was written through the lens of an institution that has experienced a disaster.
Zaveri, P. (2015). Digital disaster management in libraries in India. Library Hi Tech, 33(2), 230-244.
In his article Zaveri discusses the lack of digital disaster management plans that are place in Indian libraries and how little attention that this subject has received. It appears that the main reason that Indian libraries do not have these plans in place is that they are still mainly paper-based and do not see the importance of developing a plan for their “seemingly” limited digital collection. The findings of this research show that the potential loss of digital data is high which could have several negative consequences. While libraries in India often backup their data this is one of the only measures that they have enacted in terms of digital preservation. This article is useful because it offers a look at a library in a hybrid state, where they are just now receiving more digital collections and starting to move away from a solely paper-based collection. Zaveri’s article can be used as a great resource for reasons why digital disaster planning is important and a simple guideline for developing a plan.
This annotated bibliography was created by Aleesa Wright for INF7920
