Galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAMs) have all played their part in helping communities prepare for crises, managing community wellbeing during and after crises, and recording the experiences of living through crises. Disasters and crises come in a variety of forms. It is not uncommon for GLAM institutions and the communities who use them to suffer damage through floods, fires and earthquakes. The Australian fire season of 2019–2020 alone claimed over 17 million hectares of land. Over 3,000 homes and thirty-three lives were lost, along with loss and damage sustained by businesses and livelihoods. During this time, GLAM institutions supported their communities by providing physical safety, a place to escape the heat and smoke, collection points for donations, and sources of information regarding the recovery of people and wildlife. The COVID-19 pandemic has also seen GLAM organisations adapting their service and resource delivery to support their communities during the crisis. Some have needed to close for months at a time in a mandated attempt to slow the spread of the virus, while others have remained open but with restrictions on space, usage, collections access and event schedules. A year on from our first notifications of its existence COVID-19 continues to challenge our sector.
By bringing together work from across the galleries, libraries, archives and museum sectors, this special issue aims to identify GLAM-specific experiences of disasters and crises in all their forms, and to stimulate discussion on how GLAMs understand their roles during these experiences and how they adapt to meet the needs of their users both during and after these challenging times. We are interested in research papers for peer-review, research-in-practice papers for peer-review, and information-in-practice papers. Please see the journal’s Instructions for Authors for more detail about each of these formats.
Below are a few suggestions for submissions:
Exploring responses to the COVID-19 closures
Preparing for and surviving during and after disasters, in all their forms
The role of GLAM institutions during community crises or disasters
The role of GLAM institutions in supporting recovery from community crises or disasters
Supporting staff well-being during disaster and crisis periods
GLAM Leadership in times of crisis
We invite contributions to this special issue that addresses these, and other facets of how GLAM institutions experience and manage disasters and crises, in all their forms. Research and evaluation of practice drawing on a wide range of formats and methods is welcomed.
The Journal
JALIA is the official journal of the Australian Library and Information Association and published by Taylor and Francis. Instructions for authors and a link to the journal’s submission system are available from the JALIA’s web pages at: https://tandfonline.com/toc/ualj21/current.
The JALIA editors encourage authors to post an open access version of the full text of the Accepted Manuscript (AM) version of their paper to an institutional or subject repository and if they wish also to personal or departmental websites, immediately upon publication. For more information see here: https://authorservices.taylorandfrancis.com/zero-embargo-green-open-access/
Timeline
Due date for submission: 21 April 2021
Editorial review – distribution to reviewers: by 28 April 2021
In review: 28 April – 2 June 2021
In revision (when necessary): 2 June – 30 June 2021
Final review by guest editors/editor: 30 June – 14 July 2021
Accepted papers to publisher: 14 July 2021
Publication: September, 2020
Contacts
For further information on this special issue please contact:
Liz Walkley Hall, [email protected]
or
Dr Jane Garner, [email protected]
or
Dr Simon Wakeling, [email protected]
Orcid
Liz Walkley Hall https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8331-0044
Dr Jane Garner http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5320-8468
Dr Simon Wakeling https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0611-9083