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RescuingRecords.com Protecting the records that matter
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This site is dedicated to protecting records during times
of crisis, whether those records are the cultural heritage of society, found in libraries, archives, and museums
around the world; the records that protect the health, finances, and history of families; those that ensure the
survival of businesses; or records of government that protect the legal, civil, and property rights of residents.
Many of the manuals and tools found here were written by the site's owner, David Carmicheal. When Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States I had just been elected
President of the Council of State Archivists, the professional organization of the director's of state and territorial archives.
The experience of walking along the coast and seeing the devastated courthouses, city halls, museums, and libraries--and
seeing how the storm disrupted and destroyed the lives and livelihoods of countless residents--convinced me that more needed
to be done to help individuals and institutions prepare for emergencies. Since the focus of my education, experience,
and skills is organizing and caring for records, I began to devote a great deal of time to thinking and writing
about the importance of records and how to protect them.
In the years since Katrina
I've written everything from a bookmark about "Why Records Matter," to articles for emergency management magazines,
to manuals and books about protecting family records, business records, and the records of cultural institutions.
I've also worked on a FEMA-funded grant to train state and local governments across the country to identify their essential
records and protect them from disaster. Ironically, even though our families, businesses, and nation cannot function without
records (paper and electronic), very little attention is paid to identifying and protecting the records that really matter
to us--a very small percentage of all the records created, but by far the most important segment.
This site is intended to bring together resources that focus on the protection of essential records. I donate a portion--or
all--of the royalties from particular books to organizations, like the Council of State Archivists, to support their
emergency preparedness efforts. My primary goal is to see people better prepared to protect the records that protect them.
Thank you for visiting RescuingRecords.com! |
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