Understanding emergency information management

Abstract

Most of my career has been in diplomacy and

international emergency management. Emergency

management positions range from local fire-fighting

and city operations centers countering events like

Hurricane Katrina to large-scale international

refugee and natural disaster operations, unfortunately

the field has great job growth potential, more crises

will happen with increasingly complex information

problems. That last point is obvious if we examine

reports from USAID (US Agency for International

Development), and the International Federation of

Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. What we need

are experts to identify vulnerabilities and solutions,

officers who will also be able to blend the basics of

library/information management with well-designed

courses on the latest thinking on emergency management.

My recommendation is that graduate schools of

library/information science build that marriage in

their curriculum as quickly as possible.