MayDay 2010 - 1st May 2010

MayDay is a campaign to focus on disaster preparedness and response

On 1 May each year - and during the month - archives, galleries, libraries, museums, and cultural heritage sites across Australia are encouraged to participate in MayDay - a national effort to protect cultural heritage from disasters.

Blue Shield Australia urges cultural heritage organisations around Australia to observe MayDay by taking at least one step to prepare your organisation for emergency prevention, preparedness, response and recovery.

• Register for the ALIA FREE 1 hour teleconference on May 5, 2010, 2:00pm EST regarding disaster preparedness within the library and information sector. The discussion will have a particular focus on the ALIA Guide to Disaster Planning, Response and Recovery for Libraries. This teleconference is limited to 12 participants. For further information or to register your interest please email Judy.Brooker@alia.org.au.nospam (please remove '.nospam' from address). Upon receiving your email, Judy will provide you with the teleconference dial-in details.



• Register for Disaster Proofing Heritage Collections: the Blue Shield Australia & DISACT Symposium 2010 on matters relating to emergency-preparedness for cultural heritage. This will be held at the National Library of Australia, Canberra, on Thursday 6 May 2010. Follow the links for further information about the symposium or to register.
  Steamatic is sponsoring the Blue Shield Australia & DISACT symposium 2010.










• Read ALIA Guide to Disaster planning, response and recovery for libraries



• Use the templates provided at ALIA Disaster planning for libraries to write a disaster plan or review your current one.



• Ensure your staff contact information is current



• Conduct a building evacuation drill and evaluate the results

Contact Blue Shield Australia via email info@blueshield.org.au and let them know what activities you undertake as part of MayDay 2010. Steamatic has donated 8 disaster bins, and Archival Survival has donated 2 mini-vacs to be awarded to selected participants in this years MayDay campaign.