Disaster management approaches for academic libraries: an issue not to be neglected in Greece

Purpose - Although issues on disaster prevention have extensively been studied in the literature and have been embedded in everyday library practices all over the world, the vast majority of Greek libraries have not developed any specific measures. This paper seeks to review several disaster management approaches for academic libraries and to make suggestions for Greek academic libraries by analyzing the results of a nationwide survey. Design/methodology/approach - The literature regarding disaster management approaches for academic libraries is reviewed and accompanied by a survey conducted in July 2010 in order to study the level of risk and disaster preparedness in Greek academic libraries. Findings - In Greece, disaster management within academic libraries seems to be dealt with inefficiently, if not completely neglected. The fearsome economic crisis is further degrading the level of disaster preparedness due to a number of side effects, including the lack of personnel and equipment maintenance activities, inadequate buildings and insufficient funding. Originality/value - While the literature is flooded with risk and disaster preparedness approaches based on the work undertaken in most Western countries, this is the only study presenting evidence on the level of preparedness for Greek academic libraries.