It is important for the members of each state and territorial IPER Instructional Team to be familiar with the challenges and concerns of all three disciplines -- archives and records management, emergency management, and information technology.

The better you get to know each other during "normal" conditions, the better able you will be to help each other protect essential records and ensure business continuity during a crisis.

Here are some ideas to help you get to know each other better while learning more about the disciplines represented on the Instructional Teams.

See also: "Five things your IPER team could be doing now" (PDF)

VISIT EACH TEAM MEMBER'S FACILITY

Consider starting with visits to each agency's facility: the state archives, records center, emergency management training facilities, and data centers. You might do one per month for 3-4 months. Spend time talking about the unique characteristics of the physical environment as well as the typical day-to-day activities of staff in the facilities, especially those with a significant role in COOP.

MEET REGULARLY TO IDENTIFY ISSUES AND UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER'S ROLES IN PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE

If you haven't already done so, complete the CoSA Assessment of Emergency Preparedness for Archives and Records in the States and Territories. It is designed to be done by a group, so it makes an ideal activity for the Instructional Team. As you discuss each question and rank your state's preparedness, you'll gain a better understanding of your state's unique strengths and weaknesses.

Another resource for these meetings is the Coordinated Statewide Emergency Preparedness (COSTEP) framework, a planning tool designed to bring together cultural resource institutions with emergency management agencies and first responders. COSTEP provides a range of suggested discussion topics that would be excellent as agendas for regular meetings of the Instructional Teams.

LEARN MORE ABOUT EACH DISCIPLINE

Take advantage of free training and awareness tools to learn more about each discipline:

Emergency management: FEMA's Introduction to Incident Command System (I-100) comes highly recommended by archivists who say it provided them with a much clearer understanding of how emergency managers structure a response and allocate responsibilities during an emergency.
Information technology: There are several videos from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) that highlight disaster preparedness and response for information technology. Look for "At Risk! Securing Government in a Digital World" and "Government at Risk: Protecting Your IT Infrastructure."
Records and Information Management: Team members who do not have experience in records management will want to take the IPER Introduction to Records and Information Management course when it is ready in June 2009.
Archives: The Basics of Archives Continuing Education (BACE) curriculum is available for self-study or instructor led workshops. BACE is also designed to provide a foundation for anyone with little or no experience in archives.

Many state archives and emergency management agencies have training programs of their own, so if that's true in your state, consider enrolling in those with follow up discussions among Instructional Team members.

PRACTICE USING ILINC

The iLinc software that we'll be using for webinar delivery has lots of great features, but it takes a while to learn how they all operate and what to do when you run into a snag. We encourage you to use iLinc for web conferences of your own throughout 2009 so that you get comfortable with the technology and are ready to begin delivering the IPER webinars.

You'll find several tutorials on the iLinc site at http://www.ilinc.com/services/training.php.

One or more members of the team could host web conferences to introduce IPER and encourage emergency preparedness among local government officials, state agency records officers, state historical records advisory board members, and others. You can even use it occasionally for the Instructional Team's own meetings instead of getting together face-to-face every month. To reserve a time for your meeting, contact Verna Edwards, IPER Curriculum Manager, at vedwards@statearchivists.org or call 678-628-7227.