eReviews

EBSCO, www.ebscohost.com

Designed for continuity experts and information professionals, this full-text database covers "all aspects of business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR)," including information on such topics as Business Continuity Planning, Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP), Crisis Communications, Emergency Preparedness, Organizational Resiliency, and Risk Evaluation, among others. It offers cover-to-cover indexing of over 150 journals, monographs, and trade publications, as well as benchmarks and best practices.

HOW DOES IT WORK? The file uses the familiar, ever-evolving EBSCOhost search interface, which is, to my eyes, nearly perfect. It combines ease of simple searching with powerful options that searchers can choose to make use of—or not. There's the simple search box at screen central, with links for Search Options, Basic Search, Advanced Search, Visual Search, Search History/Alerts, and Preferences beneath it, and a variety of search limitations clearly available below that.

CAN YOU USE IT? Since this is not a subject in which I am an expert, I tried a very simple search first for "risk versus cost." This found the article "Risk Perception in Performance-Based Building Design and Applications to Terrorism-Resistant Design" by Benjamin P. Thompson and others in the Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities (Jan/Feb 2007, Vol. 21, Issue 1). With one click, I got the full PDF of the article, including charts, diagrams, and tables within the text [Example of selection of a performance objective for Earthquake Design Levels; Performance Levels and Hazard Levels from FEMA 356, 2000; Risk factor space, with a chart whose points led to Low Dread and High Dread risks, some of which are Well Understood or Not Well Understood, etc.].

The article discusses, among other subjects, Performance Based Design, Risk Perception in Building Codes, Risk Perception in Seismic Design, Terrorism Resistant Design, and Risk Perception of Terrorist Attacks, all in the context of a post-9/11 world. The content of the article is amazingly accessible given the specialized subject, and I can only say that I hope anyone involved in the design of any building I'm going to be in reads it.

My next search, for "libraries and water damage," found the article "Managing After a Disaster, or There and Back Again" by James Milles from Library & Archival Security (2004, Vol. 19, Issue 2) and "Putting the Horse in Front of the Cart: The Role of Disaster Planning and Security in the Protection of Documentary Materials in Africa" by Patrick Ngulube from Archives Journal (2003, Vol. 43). From the first article's record, I clicked the linked descriptor, "LIBRARIES—Safety measures" and got eight articles, all from the Haworth Press journal, Library & Archival Security. A quick perusal of the database coverage list revealed that that is the only title in the file devoted exclusively to library and/or archival security issues.

However, the Advanced Search I did, for "emergency and evacuations," illustrated that the file holds plenty of other material useful for libraries, such as this article from that search result: "The Behaviour and Evacuation Experiences of WTC 9/11 Evacuees with Self-Designated Mobility Impairments" by T.J. Shields from the Fire Safety Journal (Aug. 2009, Vol. 44, Issue 6).

The authors note in the abstract for this article, "The increasing accessibility of buildings to people with disabilities requires that buildings are also designed and managed to provide accessible means of escape for all. In so doing, it is important to understand the capabilities of building occupants with disabilities to evacuate and their interaction with others." That's certainly a matter of concern to libraries.

My Basic Search for "preventing and violence and workplace" found 22 articles, most of which were applicable to libraries of every kind. "10 Easy Steps to Preventing Workplace Violence," "At-Risk Terminations: Protecting Employees, Preventing Disaster," and "Risk Managers Can Predict and Prevent Workplace Violence" are just three such articles.

The results of the last search I did, for "terrorism and threat and analysis," shows both the depth and the breadth of this file. Articles included "View Point: Risk Analysis and the Terrorism Problem in Two Parts," "Adaptive Two-Player Hierarchical Holographic Modeling Game for Counterterrorism Intelligence Analysis," "Some Limitations of Risk = Threat × Vulnerability × Consequence' for Risk Analysis of Terrorist Attacks," and "Fundamentals of Terrorism: Understanding the Threat and Preparing for the Next Attack.

"WHAT'S THE COST? Academic pricing ranges from $700 to $3300 for individual institutions, based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to FTE, existing EBSCO databases, consortium agreements, and/or buying groups. Corporate pricing ranges from $2900 to $5900.

Contact EBSCO Publishing for a customized quote for your specific library; pricing is subject to change based on royalty requirements, etc. Pricing for additional institutions is also available upon request.

HOW GOOD IS IT? While there are plenty of software products available from businesses and institutions as standby systems to use in case of disaster (just do a Google search to find them), Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Reference Center™ is the only online research resource of its kind, to my knowledge. That gives EBSCO, and the file, high marks simply for its existence. But when it's combined with the EBSCOhost search interface and the content available in the product, this title earns a solid ten in my book.

BOTTOM LINE This file needs to be highly visible and readily accessible to your institution's administrators, including the facilities and operations folks, planners, directors, and anyone else with a stake in managing risk and maintaining institutional workflows. Highly recommended for all types of institutions.