n.a document containing procedures needed to prepare for and respond to disruptions in normal operationsMason 1975, 489In addition to procedures to discourage theft of archival materials, each archives should have a carefully prepared contingency plan to deal with the apprehension of thieves, or to notify the authorities that a theft has taken place.Langelier and Wright 1981, 47To meet any serious emergency in an archival institution it is absolutely necessary that there be a clearly drawn contingency plan and a team of archivists who understand their functions in a disaster.Conway 1990, 207There are four major planning activities in prevention. ¶ . . . ¶ •Prepare contingency plans for use in case of fire, flood, storms, and other natural or man-made disasters . . .Hamburger 1999, 136Between the time of submitting a grant proposal and notification of the award, internal, unpredictable staff changes can seriously affect the best-laid plans of grant writers and administrators. It is imperative to consider carefully who is going to actually do the day-to-day production work and have contingency plans in case that person is promoted, reassigned, or quits.CRL and OCLC 2007, 10A1.2 Repository has an appropriate, formal succession plan, contingency plans, and/or escrow arrangements in place in case the repository ceases to operate or the governing or funding institution substantially changes its scope.Ritzenthaler 2010, 295Another critical part of the planning is to develop contingency plans and action levels for different kinds of events. For example, it is important to consider in advance what would constitute a small- vs. large-scale emergency involving wet records.Conway and Landis 2011, 487Such sensibility encompasses adherence to emerging preservation standards, the adoption of preservation metadata frameworks for tracking changes to digital files over time, and the administrative vigilance required to anticipate technological obsolescence and prepare contingency plans for system migration.Gibbs 2012, 203, fn. 22A starting point for HBCUs [Historically Black Colleges and Universities] might be an investigation into what happens to these unique collections at closing schools and whether there are contingency plans to preserve the historical significance of the records along with their material format.Kahn 2012, xvComputers play an integrated part in libraries, archives, and information centers. Catalogs, circulation systems, collections, and finding aids are located and preserved on these computers. So we must create disaster response plans for recovery of lost data and resumption of services. Plans that revolve around computers are usually called “contingency plans” and focus on restoring the programs and data carefully backed up every hour, day, or week.Read and Ginn 2016, 370–371Other organizations have developed business continuity/disaster management plans. Disaster recovery plans may also be referred to as contingency plans, emergency plans, or disaster plans. Whatever their title, these plans are developed and implemented to provide guidance for protecting records and information and continuing business operations when emergencies and disasters occur.Joffrion and Cloonan 2020, 134Ensure that the IT department has a contingency plan to recover systems and essential records and to address IT security issues that might be compromised.
Notes
In the archival literature, contingency plan is sometimes used synonymously with disaster plan, but the term also has a broader meaning. Besides disasters, contingencies to plan for include technology migration, personnel changes, and a repository ceasing to exist.
