Disaster preparedness planning and management : issues for local government corporate records : an investigation into the Auckland region

Abstract

This research project investigated practice and organisational issues regarding disaster preparedness for records management. Fundamentally it focussed on how well organisations complied with disaster preparedness best practice for records management and the effect of having support from senior management in their organisations on the level of disaster preparedness evident in the organisation. Five records and archives managers from local government organisations in the Auckland region were interviewed using structured interview questions. Three main themes emerged from the interviews. Firstly, the interview responses indicated that the local government organisations in the Auckland region comply to a moderate level with disaster preparedness best practice factors as identified in records management literature. Secondly, senior management support for disaster preparedness initiatives for records management is a key factor in the successful implementation of disaster preparedness measures in these organisations. Finally, the majority of respondents who engage in formal disaster planning and preparedness had previous disasters occur within their organisations and these disasters had a major cost to the organisation both monetarily and in staff time. This research project also discovered that, where an organisation had fully implemented an electronic document and records management system in their organisation, the focus of their disaster preparedness planning had shifted to focus on the electronic systems in place and away from the protection of physical records held by the organisation. This issue of disaster preparedness in an electronic records environment would be useful to investigate further in future research.