Abstract

Deborah Novotny

Coping with Disaster: Contingency Planning at the British Library.

Nearly half a century separates the 1966 Florence flood from the massive flooding last year in Central Europe. What has been learned in the interval about practical approaches to saving our cultural heritage from disastrous events?

This paper will focus on the British Library's blueprint for contingency planning which covers all emergencies from salvage recovery to crisis management. In addition international efforts such as the Blue Shield initiative will be touched on.