Vital Records and Disaster Recovery
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has many resources available for information on Disaster Recovery and Vital Records programs. Listed below are contacts for assistance to federal agencies and several publications on disaster recovery and vital records.
NARA staff can assist agencies with vital records identification and guidance, inventories of paper and electronic records, records transfers to off-site storage, files reconstruction guidance, and other records management needs
If you are in the Washington, DC area and have general questions about vital records or if you have specific questions relating to your headquarters office, please contact your NARA appraisal archivist.
If you are located outside the Washington, DC, area, please contact the regional records facility closest to your location.
For information and guidance on recovering various types of record materials please visit the Preservation Programs website at http://www.archives.gov/preservation/disaster-response/
NARA also offers vital records management training. A one-day vital records class is held in Washington, DC,and NARA regional Records hold two-day workshops on disaster planning and disaster mitigation, response and recovery.
- Vital Records and Records Disaster
Mitigation and Recovery. Provides guidance on how to manage
vital records throughout their life cycle, to protect them from loss in a
disaster, and to assist in recovery should a disaster occur. (1996), 90 pp.
- A Primer on Disaster Preparedness, Management and Response: Paper-Based
Materials (1993)
[HTML] [PDF] Download Adobe Acrobat Reader 215 KBytes, 39 pages
- Normas B sicas para la Preparacin, Gestin y Respuesta Ante Desastres:
Materials con Soporte de Papel (1993)
[HTML] [PDF] 226 KBytes, 41 pages
- Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Emergency
Response Action Steps (1997)
- Salvage Operations for Water Damaged Collections by Betty Walsh (1988)
Memorandum to Heads of Federal Agencies after 9/11 from The Archivist of the United States, John W. Carlin
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