[NHCOLL-L:3604] Disaster Plan Writing Course online end of October

[Helen Alten]

MS205/6: Disaster Plan Research and Writing
Instructor: Terri Schindel
Dates:  October 29 through December 7, 2007
Price: $425
Location: www.museumclasses.org

Description:
Every museum needs to be prepared for fires, 
floods, chemical spills, tornadoes, hurricanes 
and other disasters. But surveys show 80 percent 
lack trained staff, emergency-preparedness plans 
for their collections, or both. Disaster Plan 
Research and Writing begins with the creation of 
disaster-preparedness teams, the importance of 
ongoing planning, employee safety, board 
participation and insurance. Participants will 
learn everything they need to draft their own 
disaster-preparedness plans. They also will be 
required to incorporate colleagues in team-building exercises.

A written disaster-preparedness plan is not only 
a good idea, it’s also a requirement for 
accreditation. In the second half of the course, 
instructor Terri Schindel reviews and provides 
input as participants write plans that outline 
the procedures to follow in various emergencies. 
The completed plan prepares museums physically 
and mentally to handle emergencies that can harm 
vulnerable and irreplaceable collections. You 
will have a completed institutional 
disaster-preparedness and response plan at the end of the course.

Course Outline:
1.              Introduction to Disaster Planning
2.              Disaster Team
3.              Risk Assessment and Management
4.              Health and Safety
5.              Insurance
6.              Documentation
7.              Prioritizing Collections
8.              Writing the Disaster Preparedness Plan
9.              Emergency Procedures
10.     Disaster Response
11.     Emergency Procedures  Recovery
12.     Emergency Procedures  Salvage
13.     Emergency Procedures - Salvage Techniques and Guidelines
14.     Emergency supplies and location of regional resources
15.     Appendices:  What to put in them
16.     Next steps: planning drills and further resources
17.     Conclusion

Logistics:
Participants in Disaster Plan Research and 
Writing work at their own pace. Instructor Terri 
Schindel is available at scheduled times for 
email support. Opportunities for interaction 
include forums and scheduled online chats. Each 
section includes a written assignment that 
becomes support material for drafting an actual 
disaster preparedness plan. Materials include 
readings, lecture notes, links to relevant web 
sites and handouts. The course is limited to 20 participants.

Required Textbook:
Disaster Plan Research and Writing uses the 
required textbook Steal This Handbook! A Template 
for Creating a Museum’s Emergency Preparedness 
Plan, which is available for purchase at 
http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html.

Disaster Plan Research and Writing lasts six 
weeks. Please sign up at www.museumclasses.org 
and pay for the course at 
http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html.  If 
you have trouble with either, please contact 
Helen Alten at helen at collectioncare.org.

Student Comments:
“This course was a great motivator to get me to 
work on the disaster preparedness plan.”   MS 205 Student

“The course exceeded my expectations  
 I am 
looking forward to developing a plan that will 
protect the collections.  I really enjoyed the 
course and plan on taking additional courses in the future.”  MS 205 Student

“Terri was good at asking little questions about 
procedures that I had either overlooked or had 
not considered, and this got me moving in new directions.”  MS 206 Student

“To write the disaster preparedness and response 
plan, you need to set aside a significant amount 
of time and this class forced me to do that so I 
completed most of the plan.  Hooray!”  MS 206 Student

“A great motivator to get me to work on the 
disaster preparedness and response plan. I really 
appreciate Terri’s time, knowledge, and flexibility.”  MS 206 Student

The Instructor:
Terri Schindel graduated from the Courtauld Art 
Institute, University of London with a 
concentration in textile conservation. She has 
assisted small and medium sized museums in 
writing disaster plans for more than a decade and 
helped develop national standards for 
disaster-preparedness materials. Ms. Schindel 
specializes in collection care and preventive 
conservation and works regularly with small, rural and tribal museums. 
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