Protecting documents against disasters and theft : the challenge before the public libraries in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Abstract
All forms of documentary materials are prone to disasters and theft. Security and disaster management are keys to the protection of library materials from theft and risks. However, librarians often overlook disaster preparedness and security control yet they are fundamental aspects of preservation management as they make it possible for people to have access to library materials, and to respond to and recover from disasters. A cross-sectional survey carried out between December 2005 and February 2006 in public libraries of KwaZulu-Natal revealed that the libraries were not adequately prepared for protecting documents against disasters and theft. Furthermore, most of the public libraries did not have disaster plans, adequate procedures for disaster response and recovery, satisfactory theft management strategies and sufficient staff with disaster management knowledge and skills.Downloads
This journal is an open access journal, and the authors (copyright owners) should be properly acknowledged when works are cited. Authors retain publishing rights without any restrictions.
South African Journal of Libraries and Information Science is an Open Access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of Open Access.
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License