Collections in an Uncertain World: The Impact of Earthquakes on Canterbury Museum

By

Wright, Anthony

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2018-7-17

Original Publication

Metabarcoding and metagenomics

Volume

2

Pages

1--2

Subjects

Collections , community , disaster planning , disaster recovery , Earthquakes

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers 2017-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.28364

 

Abstract

Since 2010, the Canterbury region on the eastern coast of New Zealand’s South Island has experienced more than 14,000 earthquakes. This presentation begins by considering the immediate impact of these seismic events on Canterbury Museum; how were its buildings, its collections, its team and its communities affected? Within the first weeks and months, what processes were put in place to manage the collections and to what extent was the Museum’s team able to undertake work to ensure the institution remained relevant during a national disaster? With a distance of almost eight years since the first major earthquake, this presentation reflects on some of the lessons learnt about the realities of planning for, and responding to, disaster and the impact of a continuing series of earthquakes on the concept of ‘business as usual’.