Disaster Planning

Post-Sandy Disaster Planning

Water Buffalo Storage

How will you and your staff and patrons cope during and after a major weather event? Price gouging and panic buying all contribute to the detrimental effects of a disaster and anxiety over a potential disaster.

In Rhode Island, as soon as there is a storm approaching or the threat of a storm approaching  – hurricane – tropical – or snow – the local population typically goes out and buys all of the bread and milk out off the store shelves. They also buy up loads of bottled water and batteries.

When the power goes out, what are they going to do with all of that milk?  Batteries eventually discharge. Bottled water is not environmentally friendly, can cost 500 times as much as tap water and may even be very low quality.  If water service is interrupted and a water buffalo is all that is available – refilling bottles for daily needs is ineffective.

Sandy

Rhode Island - with the exception of the south-west coastal area – was very lucky during Sandy compared to New Jersey and NYC. We were spared much of the rain and our storm surge was less. After going through many potential and real weather emergencies in Rhode Island and coastal North Carolina, I was determined not to be price gouged or ill-prepared for weather.  Rather than scurry around trying to find items in high demand, I decided to put together a few items that can bring relative comfort when your infrastructure is compromised.  It takes me about 10 minutes to get ready for an infrastructure disaster.  Here is my short list:

Water Carrier

Coleman Expandable Water Carrier http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Expandable-Water-Carrier-5-Gallon/dp/B000088O9Y- because your own tap water is much cheaper than bottled water and you can flatten out this jug and store it anywhere – you can also refill it from available water supplies efficiently – such as with a Water Buffalo deployed by the National Guard.

Butane Stove

Portable Butane Gas Stove  http://www.amazon.com/Portable-Butane-Stove-With-GASONE/dp/B001V72U36 – this will boil water – cook a skillet of food fast and is highly portable – a cartridge of butane lasts for a long time

Powdered Milk http://www.walmart.com/ip/10415475?adid=22222222227009265766 – doesn’t go bad for a long time – just mix what you need – this can be even cheaper than regular milk.

D Light Solar Lighting

Solar Led Lamps - http://www.amazon.com/d-light-S10-Solar-LED-Lantern/dp/B004B924OG/ – cheap, bright effective lighting

Hand Crank Radio

Hand Crank Radio - http://www.amazon.com/Ambient-Weather-Emergency-Flashlight-Certified/dp/B0071BTJPI/ – stay connected – recharge your cell-phones – even though you might not have service from damaged cell towers

Coffee Pot

Coffee Pot - http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-14-Cup-Enamelware-Coffee-Percolator/dp/B0009PUQI2 – boil water, make coffee, keep alert, stay happy!

This kit is just a little over $100.  You can also purchase all sorts of long-lasting food supplies. But, all of these items can also be used for camping – so your emergency kit has more that one purpose and will save you time and energy in the event of a disaster or the disaster that never comes.

I think I purchased the butane stove for around $20.  I have read that you can use them indoors like a regular burner on top of your regular stove.  The D-lights are very nice too – just leave them sitting in window sills in case the power ever goes out and they are always charged. They were developed for tropical conditions and are quite durable.  There are also lots of options with the hand-crank radios now and lower prices by quantity.  A five gallon collapsible container for water contains about as much as case of bottled water that can easily cost much more. If you calculate the cost of having to drive around and get the water, then it is even more and the quality of the water may be even less.  Powdered milk has a very long shelf-life and the cost at WalMart may be less than regular milk from the store.

With the portable stove, the Coffee Pot and a hot-water bottle, you can provide a nice source of warmth when temperatures fall.  Just heat up the water, pour it in the hot-water bottle and you can keep the chill off.  Most people I have met are fairly well prepared to go without infrastructure for about three days.  The items above can keep you somewhat comfortable longer than that.  The D-Lights I have used on low settings keep lit for about 8 hours.  Just set them back in the light during the daytime, and you have decent lighting overnight.  The hand crank radio / charger will keep you connected after your stock of batteries are depleted.  The butane stove cartridges will last a very long time.

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Publib Topics – A Graphic Retrospective – November 2011

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This graphic image  or word cloud was created using Wordle. It is derived from the subjects and authors of postings in PubLib for November 2011. The size of the graphics is directly related to the number of un-weighted unique occurrences each month of the individual words represented. Most automated graphic processes that generate these types of word clouds use additional weight for H1 – H6 tags through feeds. These graphics are not processed with H1 – H6 tags. The titles and authors were copied to Notepad and stripped of all HTML before being run through the Wordle Java platform. The process is case-sensitive so Library is not the same thing as library.

 

The most prominent word without employing filters would have been Publib.  Publib and Fwd were deleted from the plaintext files before processing. In addition, the Wordle program automatically disregards articles, conjunctions, and prepositions.

 

Some of the thought-provoking discussions involved:  Dream reference desk ,  Amnesty Week ,  Downloading library materials ,  Geek events in Libraries ,  Tobacco use by prospective employees , authoritative Library Property Stamp procedures , and the Great White Christmas debate.

 

Publib Topics November 2011

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halloPublib Topics – A Graphic Retrospective – October 2011

Beware Graphic Content Ahead!

 

This graphic image  or word cloud was created using Wordle. It is derived from the subjects and authors of postings in PubLib for October 2011. The size of the graphics is directly related to the number of un-weighted unique occurrences each month of the individual words represented. Most automated graphic processes that generate these types of word clouds use additional weight for H1 – H6 tags through feeds. These graphics are not processed with H1 – H6 tags. The titles and authors were copied to Notepad and stripped of all HTML before being run through the Wordle Java platform. The process is case-sensitive so Library is not the same thing as library.

 

The most prominent word without employing filters would have been Publib.  Publib and Fwd were deleted from the plaintext files before processing. In addition, the Wordle program automatically disregards articles, conjunctions, and prepositions.

 

Some of the more viral discussions included: Public Library Halloween Celebrations,   Ethical Question  regarding employee time at conferences,  Self-Published Titles ,  Study Room Polices , Maximum Fines ,  and Unwelcome Patrons in Children’s Area .

Publib Topics October 2011

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Publib Topics – A Graphic Retrospective – September 2011

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 This graphic image  or word cloud was created using Wordle. It is derived from the subjects and authors of postings in PubLib for September 2011. The size of the graphics is directly related to the number of un-weighted unique occurrences each month of the individual words represented. Most automated graphic processes that generate these types of word clouds use additional weight for H1 – H6 tags through feeds. These graphics are not processed with H1 – H6 tags. The titles and authors were copied to Notepad and stripped of all HTML before being run through the Wordle Java platform. The process is case-sensitive so Library is not the same thing as library.

 

The most prominent word without employing filters would have been Publib.  Publib and Fwd were deleted from the plaintext files before processing. In addition, the Wordle program automatically disregards articles, conjunctions, and prepositions.

 

Some of the more active threads include: a continued discussion of LSSI from August , Amazon in Competition with Libraries ,  Book or E-book,  Bedbugs ,  and an assortment of DVD Issues.

 

Publib Topics September 2011

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Publib Topics – A Graphic Retrospective – August 2011

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 This graphic image  or word cloud was created using Wordle. It is derived from the subjects and authors of postings in PubLib for August 2011. The size of the graphics is directly related to the number of un-weighted unique occurrences each month of the individual words represented. Most automated graphic processes that generate these types of word clouds use additional weight for H1 – H6 tags through feeds. These graphics are not processed with H1 – H6 tags. The titles and authors were copied to Notepad and stripped of all HTML before being run through the Wordle Java platform. The process is case-sensitive so Library is not the same thing as library.

 

The most prominent word without employing filters would have been Publib. Publib and Fwd were deleted from the plaintext files before processing. In addition, the Wordle program automatically disregards articles, conjunctions, and prepositions.

 

Some of the major topics discussed included Personal Security,  Staff Name Badges,  e-book lending legalities,  and Urban – Street literature collection development.

 

Publib Topics August 2011

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Publib Topics – A Graphic Retrospective – July 2011

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This graphic image or word cloud was created using Wordle. It is derived from the subjects and authors of postings in PubLib for July 2011. The size of the graphics is directly related to the number of un-weighted unique occurrences each month of the individual words represented. Most automated graphic processes that generate these types of word clouds use additional weight for H1 – H6 tags through feeds. These graphics are not processed with H1 – H6 tags. The titles and authors were copied to Notepad and stripped of all HTML before being run through the Wordle Java platform. The process is case-sensitive so Library is not the same thing as library.

 

The most prominent word without employing filters would have been Publib.  Publib and Fwd were deleted from the plaintext files before processing. In addition, the Wordle program automatically disregards articles, conjunctions, and prepositions.

 

Some of the prominent discussions included:  Borders demise — Opportunity for Publib Libraries?,  Closing Post Offices and Libraries, Locating people for patrons?, and Rewarding staff for community volunteerisim.

 

Publib Topics - July 2011

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Publib Topics – A Graphic Retrospective – June 2011

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This graphic image  or word cloud was created using Wordle. It is derived from the subjects and authors of postings in PubLib for June 2011. The size of the graphics is directly related to the number of un-weighted unique occurrences each month of the individual words represented. Most automated graphic processes that generate these types of word clouds use additional weight for H1 – H6 tags through feeds. These graphics are not processed with H1 – H6 tags. The titles and authors were copied to Notepad and stripped of all HTML before being run through the Wordle Java platform. The process is case-sensitive so Library is not the same thing as library.

 

The most prominent word without employing filters would have been Publib.  Publib and Fwd were deleted from the plaintext files before processing. In addition, the Wordle program automatically disregards articles, conjunctions, and prepositions.

 

This month and the month of May featured lively discussions of concealed carry of guns by library staff and others in libraries, Save the Libraries, Fire the Librarians, and Farting Patrons.

 

Publib Topics June 2011

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