David Lintz asks about SERA's new book *Steal This Handbook! A Template for Creating a Museum's Emergency Preparedness Plan*: > How does this compare to the newly published large three-ring book > on the same topic from the Texas Association of Museums? The TAM book has a wealth of informational material on emergencies and disasters. The SERA book, however, is a TEMPLATE. That is, museums should be able to take the handbook, review it with their own staff size, budget, physical limitations, etc., in mind, and then revise it accordingly to complete their own emergency preparedness plan. E.g., you might take out the section on volcanos if you aren't in that type of area, or on hurricanes or earthquakes if those don't fit your geographic area. You may change the titles of some museum positions that don't fit those in your museum. You may want to use one option rather than another in responding to an emergency, given your museum's arrangement or staff. The main point is, with the SERA book, museums will still have to do some work in setting up their emergency plan, but the bulk of the research has already been done; museums should basically only have to revise the template. One feature that is also extremely important in the SERA book and not available in any other book we've seen is the section on cleanup. That section includes what to do with collections and buildings to stabilize them following an emergency until the conservator arrives. Further, the appendices include samples of necessary forms and descriptions on how to set up those forms for your museum. The bibliography is extensive, but, unlike many other publications, it includes the address and often the phone number where you can order the publication. I hope this describes *Steal This Handbook!* in enough detail to differentiate it from other emergency preparedness publications. Please feel free to e-mail or phone me if there are other questions. ---------- Allyn Lord The University Museum University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR [log in to unmask] (Internet) alord%saturn.uark.edu@uafsysb (Bitnet)