The fire that struck in the Eastern Illinois University's Blair Hall on April 28, 2004, disrupted a number of professional lives, though no one was killed or injured due to a good emergency plan dutifully executed. Several tips on disaster preparedness and recovery that could benefit institutions caught in a similar situation are presented.

"MCPS School Safety and Security at a Glance" provides, in a single document, information about the reporting of incidents related to school safety and security, school climate, local school safety program descriptions, and serious incidents in all Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools. The information is presented for each school.…

"Lessons Learned" is a series of publications that are a brief recounting of actual school emergencies and crises. This issue of "Lessons Learned" addresses after-action reports, which are an integral part of the emergency preparedness planning continuum and support effective crisis response. After-action reports have a threefold purpose. They…

Unprocessed archival collections can contain unknown and potentially hazardous materials that can be harmful to other collections and staff. Archival literature largely focuses on collection and personnel dangers posed by environmental hazards such as mold and insect infestation but not on pharmaceutical and chemical hazards. In this article, the…

A network approach to disaster preparedness in university settings is described. Basic network concepts relevant for disaster preparedness and methods for analyzing network data without complex mathematics are presented. A case study of campus mental health and academic units at a midwestern university is presented to illustrate the practical…

Until recently, homelessness in rural areas has received little recognition because of overwhelming assumptions about the urban-centeredness of homeless people and their needs. This paper seeks to build on recent research that has begun to uncover some of the problems and characteristics of rural homelessness, by suggesting two significant…

In a residence hall on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, two students had been shot to death. A couple of hours later, the tragedy multiplied by horrific proportions as across campus, 30 students and instructors were gunned down in a classroom building. As the details emerged of the worst shooting incident in U.S. history, educators and…

In the wake of recent tragedies, campus security has become a hot issue nationwide. Campus libraries, as traditional meeting spots for varied groups of people, are particularly vulnerable to security issues. Safety and security problems that can occur at any library generally include theft, vandalism, arson, antisocial behavior, and assaults on…

Schools play a unique role in communities when disaster strikes. They serve as shelter for evacuees and first responders; they are a trusted source of information; and once danger has passed, the district, as employer and community center, often serves as a foundation for recovery. Technology plays a key role in a school district's ability to…

This article presents the top-ten IT-related issues in terms of strategic importance to the institution, as revealed by the tenth annual EDUCAUSE Current Issues Survey. These IT-related issues include: (1) Funding IT; (2) Administrative/ERP Information Systems; (3) Security; (4) Infrastructure/Cyberinfrastructure; (5) Teaching and Learning with…

A survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors of its 22 member Task Force on Joblessness on Hunger to determine the current status of hunger in cities revealed the following facts among others: (1) Despite 15 months of economic recovery, the problem of hunger has grown and is expected to increase over the next year; (2) Two-thirds of the cities…

A superintendent describes the actions his district took when its community suffered a natural disaster and offers suggestions districts should take to be prepared to assist their communities under similar circumstances. (IRT)

Presents responses of five major bibliographic facilities--Library of Congress MARC program, Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN), Washington Library Network (WLN), and University of Toronto Library Automated System (UTLAS)--to a set of fictional situations involving computer crime and security. (EJS)

This issue of ERCMExpress alerts readers of the All-Hazard NOAA weather radio (NWR) network upgrade. In 2004, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) collaborated to enable DHS to disseminate homeland security-related information over the NWR network. DHS's goal was to produce an…

This issue of ERCMExpress presents food safety and food defense for schools. Many schools and school districts across the country have established emergency management plans; however, these plans are often not comprehensive, practiced regularly or written in collaboration with the local community. It is recommended that schools adopt a…