"When disasters strike," said Vicki Walch, executive director of the Council of State Archivists (CoSA), "emergency responders need records to locate utilities and establish chain of command, state and local governments need records to continue operations, and individuals need records to prove their identity and re-establish their lives." The summit is sponsored by CoSA and funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
According to David Carmicheal, who was president of CoSA when Katrina and Rita struck, the hurricanes were a wakeup call. "Emergency responders and governments had simply taken records for granted, and some of those proved to be essential to the response and recovery. Responders, for instance, needed maps and building plans and delegations of authority in order to respond appropriately to the disaster." More poignant to Carmicheal were the losses suffered by ordinary people. "For example, people along the Gulf Coast assumed that their deeds were safe because the courthouse had a copy and they had a copy at home. But then courthouses and homes were wiped out and people were left scrambling for proof of property ownership. The records became very important at that point."
In response to what they found after Katrina, CoSA developed the Intergovernmental Preparedness for Essential Records (IPER) project and successfully applied for a FEMA grant to fund it. The Summit in Atlanta is the first step and will bring together the directors (or deputies) of every state emergency management office, information technology agency, and archival or records management agency. "These three need to work together," says Julie Framingham, the IPER project manager. "Emergency managers need to help set the priorities for response and recovery, the archival and records management professionals have the expertise to protect records, and the information technology directors can provide the technology and expertise needed to create and protect electronic records." After the Summit, says Framingham, the IPER project will produce training sessions to be delivered nationwide. "Our goal is to reach thousands of state and local government officials in every state and territory and train them how to identify essential records and how to protect them from disasters."
"Iowa has just experienced record breaking flooding and the resulting damage was extensive to both personal and public property,", says John Gillispie, Iowa CIO. "It will take years to rebuild and has tragically impacted thousands of people. Access to records was critical during the response efforts and will be invaluable during the recovery. The broad interest in this conference confirms the significant impact that states see from loss of essential records and their willingness to address the challenges."
"Not every record is essential," says CoSA's executive director, Walch. "Only about three to five percent of all government records qualify, but it's those three to five percent that make all the difference when there is a flood or fire, a tornado or a terrorist attack." Walch, who lives in Iowa, has seen the problem firsthand in the past several weeks. "The flooding in Iowa has been tragic and we still don't know how many government records have been lost, but planning is key to preventing such losses. The IPER project is a major step in preparing the nation for future disasters."
