When you talk about disasters in libraries, most people think of fires, floods, hurricanes, or earthquakes. There's another kind of disaster that people usually don't consider: suddenly losing a key staff member. Our library recently experienced such a disaster, with the sudden passing of our ILL librarian and acting head of Access Services, DeeDee Acosta. DeeDee had a lot of specialized knowledge that will be difficult to transfer to others. Right now, the library administration is gathering information about what she was working on and how she managed her activities so that the ILL/document delivery business can be continued without disruption.

So, think about this: if you're the only person in your organization with specialized knowledge about certain activities or projects, do a brain dump and put it someplace (like your intranet) where others can access it.