The Fiaf Disaster Handbook: Disaster Preparedness and Recovery for Audio-Visual Archives

Are you fully prepared for any eventuality that might strike your film or tape collection? Does your organisation have a realistic and up-to-date disaster plan? Has everyone been trained in what to do in an emergency? When the floodwaters rise, the storm strikes, the storage tank bursts, will a well-practised plan go smoothly into action? Do you know what urgent action is needed to save a vault full of soaked film reels? Have you got all the material and equipment needed to deal with your photograph collection after the fire hoses have been at work? For too many of us, disaster planning is thought to be somebody else’s responsibility. If the answer to any of the questions above is No, then it is time to act. In a world that is increasingly vulnerable to extremes, disaster preparedness is everybody’s responsibility. This book is your essential guide to all aspects of preparing for any disaster, big and small, that might hit your audio-visual collection. Read it, and then make sure that everyone else reads it, so that when disaster strikes - which will happen, sooner or later - your collection will be as safe as it can be. Remember, a disaster can wipe out an entire collection in a moment: don’t let this happen!

David Walsh, the editor of this Handbook, has been FIAF’s Training and Outreach Coordinator since 2016. Previously, he worked for the film and video archive of the Imperial War Museums, first as Head of Preservation, later as Head of Digital Collections.