911 Reflections, Roles

1
9-11 Reflections, Roles Responsibilities in the
Aftermath of Tragedy

• Dr. José-Marie Griffiths
• Doreen E. Boyce Chair and Professor,
• Library and Information Science
• Director, Sara Fine Institute
• School of Information Sciences
• University of Pittsburgh,William Pitt Union
• WPWVC/ACRL Meeting, November 19, 2001
• (image from Time Magazine)

2
Hi-Tech and Hi-Touch

• For every action there is an equal and opposite
  reaction.
• -Newtons Third Law
• Of Motion

• Use of technology to reach others
• Dual investigatory tracks
• Every day objects turned into weapons
• Virtual place vs. physical place
• Public memory, private grief
• Heroism and patriotism

3
Its Not My Problem

• No society can long sustain itself unless its
  members have learned the sensitivities,
  motivations, and skills involved in assisting and
  caring for other human beings.
• -Urie Bronfenbrenner, 1979

• 9-11 Acts of terrorism
• Anthrax bioterrorism
• What have these got to do with libraries?

4
Information and Knowledge Management

• One of the extraordinary things about human
  events is that the unthinkable becomes
  thinkable.
• -Salman Rushdie

• Building collections and preserving them
• Aggregating information and knowledge
• Authentications and validation
• Concentration vs. dispersion
• Value and risk assessment

5
Dissemination of Information

• It is an equal failing to trust everybody and
  to trust nobody.
• -18th Century English Proverb

• Multiple Channels
• Nations backbone of libraries
• Trusted sources
• Local touch

6
Emergency Preparedness Recovery

• We have really not, in the 17 years Ive been
  in the industry, had a smoke and rubble event of
  this nature. This will test recovery plans in a
  way they have never been tested.
• -John Jackson, 2001

• Lightning does strike twice
• Plan for multiple emergencies
• Rethink policies and procedures
• Rethink roles for emergencies
• Repetition and readiness

7
Roles of Library

• Mistrust makes life difficult. Trust makes it
  risky.
• -Mason Cooley

• Collection based
• Service based
• People based
• Place based

8
TRUST

• The single most important issue for the new
  millennium will be trust- from interpersonal
  trust to trusted technologies.
• -José-Marie Griffiths,
• 1998

• Tolerance
• Record of human accomplishment
• User communities
• Systems-services
• Tradition, Truth, and Tribute

9
Even without lethal fanaticism, the
human-made world is more dangerous than
ever.-Edward TurnerCATASTROPHIC EVENTS-
SYSTEM FRACTURES

• September 4, 2001 Holy Cross School Protests
• September 11, 2001 Toulouse fertilizer factory
  explosion
• October 5, 2001 First anthrax victim, Bob
  Stevens, dies.
• November 12, 2001 Flight 587 falls from sky
  over Queens, NY