services
disaster assistance
COSTEP: Coordinated Statewide Emergency Preparedness
An Emergency Response Framework for the Cultural Community
With support from an IMLS National Leadership grant, the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) has developed the COSTEP framework in cooperation with:
- The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC)
- The Massachusetts Archives
- The Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA)
- The Society of American Archivists (SAA)
- Heritage Preservation
- The Southeast Library Network (SOLINET)
COSTEP is a planning tool designed to bring together cultural resource institutions with emergency management agencies and first responders. It will provide a blueprint for preparing for area-wide disasters and building alliances with federal, state, and local emergency management agencies.
COSTEP guides states through the process of planning for a disaster and fosters collaboration among a wide range of agencies.
COSTEP builds upon existing emergency preparedness projects such as the Heritage Emergency National Task Force’s Alliance for Response and the Council of State Archivists’ Emergency Preparedness Initiative (EPI) and Intergovernmental Preparedness for Essential Records (IPER). COSTEP is designed to complement these projects and provide a mechanism for incorporating them into a larger statewide planning effort.
Who should participate?
- State agencies responsible for cultural collections
- Library / archives / museum associations
- Professional organizations
- Private libraries, archives, and museums
- Historic sites
- Local / county / state / regional emergency managers and first responders
For more information about COSTEP, please visit the project wiki: http://statewideplan.pbwiki.com.