The University of Iowa Libraries

Disaster and Recovery Plan for Government Publications

Introduction

The priorities described in this document address the individual needs of the Government Publications Collection within the larger context of disaster planning documents of The University of Iowa and The University of Iowa Libraries'.

• The University of Iowa's Critical Incident Management Plan applies to all units of the institution and is the basic framework for disaster preparedness.
  
  
• The University of Iowa Libraries, Preservation Department Materials Damage Recovery Service Directory describes specific methods of treatment and recovery.

Government Publications Collections

In case of disaster, preservation/recovery priorities for the Government Publications Collection are based on the following principles:

1. Uniqueness of the material
2. Possibility of replacing the material
3. Cost

For disaster planning purposes, the materials in the Government Publications Collection should be considered as seven different collections:

1. Sudocs (U.S. Government) materials
2. State and city materials
3. United Nations
4. International
5. Foreign
6. Dewey Collection
7. Library of Congress collection

Various parts of the above collections are issued in three different formats: Paper, microform, and electronic.

lst Priority for Recovery

1. Shelflist of all collections, as the record of the collections
2. Pre-1980 Iowa State materials (mostly in the basement);this may be the largest collection of this type in the State
3. Dewey collection (both in the basement and on 3rd floor) contains a considerable number of Works Progress Administration materials and other hard-to-replace items
4. The "J" classification in the Library of Congress collection contains many parliamentary proceedings from foreign countries and would be very difficult to replace

2nd Priority for Recovery

1. International Collection
2. United Nations Collection
3. Foreign Collection
4. All microforms
5. Remaining Library of Congress Collection (other than "J")

(Note: Numbers 1–3 are somewhat unique and would be fairly difficult to replace; 4 is probably available but quite costly; 5 contains some unique items, but much is available through reprint and microform publishers.)

3rd Priority for Recovery

1. Sudocs collection (in all locations)
2. Iowa State collection from 1980 to the present
3. Other state and city collections
4. Materials in electronic format

(Note: Items 1–4 include either materials that are usually available from reprint or microform publishers or, in the case of 3, may not be replaced.)

Revised, M. Mason
July 2007