[MSN] Disaster Plan Writing Course online end of October

[Museum Security Network Mailing list]

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.
========================================================= Important
Subscriber Information: 
The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message
to listserv at home.ease.lsoft.com . The body of the message should read "help"
(without the quotes). 
If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
listserv at home.ease.lsoft.com . The body of the message should read "Signoff
Museum-L" (without the quotes).