I hope everyone had a wonderful, long weekend. Just a reminder that the NEDCC Disaster Planning workshop hosted by the Solo Archivists Section is this Friday, December 5, at 9a Pacific/12p Eastern. Details and registration are below. Hope you can join us!
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The Solo Archivists Section is pleased to announce the next UnBOXed education webinar, focusing on disaster preparedness for solo archivists, presented by Hillary Ellis from NEDCC. She will share resources and tools connected to the "Ready – Or Not" Project. Although this project is designed for California repositories, the resources and tools can be used anywhere. The presentation will share risk assessment tools, examples of disaster plans, common challenges libraries and archives face, and will encourage discussion to help answer questions about disaster preparedness for solo archivists.
Date: Friday, December 5, 2025
Time: 9a Pacific / 11a Central / 12p Eastern
Zoom Registration Link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/6tiiJVBBRYibYJvPCz4oZQ#/registration
More details:
Join the "Ready - Or Not" Cultural Heritage Disaster Preparedness Project lead consultant for an informative discussion covering the full scope of the initiative - from free consultation services for emergency preparedness to hands-on training opportunities. The presentation will share risk assessment tools, examples of disaster plans, common challenges libraries and archives face, and will encourage discussion to help answer questions about disaster preparedness for solo archivists. Discover how archives and collections institutions in California can get involved in the "Ready – Or Not" Project, and bring your disaster planning questions to discuss.
For those attending, disaster plan templates and planning tools are attached to this email – A Worksheet Outlining the Emergency Response Plan; The Pocket Response Resource and Instructions; and Disaster Plan Table of Contents with annotations.
Prompts for participants to consider for our discussion and Q&A time:
- What does disaster planning look like for a solo archivist? Think about what your organization already has established – a written disaster plan, response and salvage supplies, safety protocols?
- What has worked well for your library-archives when it comes to disaster planning and response?
- How are you approaching this sort of work? Is there an opportunity for a shared community of practice among solo archivists?
- What are some ideas you could apply right away?
- What kind of support do you need to improve or build your own disaster plans?
About the Presenter:
Hillary Ellis leads the "Ready-Or Not" Project, an initiative to assess emergency preparedness at California organizations that care for cultural and historic resources. In this role, Hillary supervises a state-wide team of consultants and conducts on-site emergency preparedness assessments. She has conducted 52 emergency preparedness assessments at libraries, archives, museums, historical societies, state parks, and Native American organizations. The project is supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.
Hillary holds an MA of Art Conservation, Paintings, from Queen's University. Prior to her tenure at NEDCC, she worked as a conservator in private practice. Most recently Hillary served as Director of Conservation at the Strong National Museum of Play, where she assisted with updating the disaster plan, developed a digital preservation policy, and worked to improve collections environmental monitoring and storage conditions. Hillary is a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC).
We hope you can join us!
Best,
Alison
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Alison Quirion
Archivist
Sega of America
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