Caretakers of Lessons Learned
The world-renowned E. L. Quarantelli Resource Collection is the nation’s oldest and most comprehensive research collection devoted to the social science and management aspects of disasters. This extensive collection, overseen by a dedicated staff, includes books and other published materials, rare and otherwise hard-to-find disaster reports and reference materials, expansive archival holdings of historic disaster research data, oral histories, photographs, and a small disaster-related object collection. During the workshop, the E. L. Quarantelli Resource Collection highlighted some of the many ways it is working to preserve these materials for future research efforts.
Renderings displayed at the workshop.
— Art by Melissa Shutz
The E. L. Quarantelli Resource Collection is engaging in an ambitious effort to preserve and digitize a substantial portion of its historical collection, both in an effort to ensure delicate paper and recordings to not deteriorate as well as to make an a larger component of its holdings available to the research and applied community.
A few of these collections are highlighted below.
Foreign Language Collection
This flowchart for a Japanese nuclear power plant details actions to take in case of disaster. The DRC is fortunate to have many international records, in their original languages, in the archives. The international documents expand the perspective of researchers on particular practices and a range of disaster events. The digitization of these documents both expands access and facilitates translation of older materials.
Examples of Preservation Efforts
DRC Founding Documents
These documents tell the story of DRC, from its inception, to its founding, to the contracts and connections made with governmental organizations. This collection of reports, memorandums, contracts, and letters from 1962–1971 shows the growing importance of the DRC, and contextualizes its position today.
Caporale Earthquake Proposal and Research
This proposal to the National Science Foundation asking for support for research concerning the impact of the 1980 Irpinia Earthquake on Southern Italian communities was made by Professors Rocco Caporale and Ino Rossi. Their unpublished report was very influential in the field of sociology. Caporale was invited to present the report before the Italian Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry. DRC students and alumni have played a critical role in helping translate many of these documents from Italian to English as we catalog this tremendous resource.
Disaster Timelines Produced by Claire Rubin
These four timelines, made in 2008 and 2009, record major disasters and disaster responses in California, the U.S., Canada and B.C., and worldwide respectively. They were developed by Claire Rubin as a teaching tool for her students while she was a faculty member at George Washington University. DRC is fortunate to have these timelines, as well as Rubin’s paper collection, which serve as important resources in the field of disaster research.
Photograph and Video Collection
DRC maintains a large collection of photographs, be it from professional meetings, to lab studies, to field work deployment. Many of these photographs serve as a historical record for who participated in meetings as well as the type of research conducted at particular periods. Other photos and video document the post disaster conditions of locations immediately after historical events.
DRC Field Work Cincinnati Flood 1963
Field Study, Topeka 1966
Scanlon Collection Photos
Field Study, Tohoku Japan 2011
Field Study, Haiti EQ 2010
Christchurch NZ EQ Memorial
Christchurch NZ EQ Memorial
Hurricane Harvey
Hurricane Sandy
Field Study, Nepal EQ 2016
Field Study, Nepal EQ 2016
DRC 40th Anniversary Conference: Anthony Oliver Smith
DRC 40th Anniversary Conference: Attendees
DRC 40th Anniversary Conference: Attendees
DRC 40th Anniversary Conference: Attendees
DRC 40th Anniversary Conference: Attendees Dynes Quarantelli Rodriguez
DRC 40th Anniversary Conference: Closing Statements
DRC 40th Anniversary Conference: From Theory to Praxis Panel
DRC 40th Anniversary Conference: Jim Kerr
DRC 40th Anniversary Conference: Joseph Scanlon
DRC 40th Anniversary Conference: Linda Bourque
DRC 40th Anniversary Conference: Lori Peek
DRC 40th Anniversary Conference: Theory and Methods Panel
DRC 40th Anniversary Conference: Transforming the Field Panel
DRC 40th Anniversary Conference: Tricia Wachtendorf
DRC 40th Anniversary Conference: Risa Palm
DRC Graduate Students 1977
DRC Lab Researchers
DRC Lab Cross-Cultural Human Subjects Study
DRC Lab Movable TV Camera for Use Outside Lab Room
DRC Lab TV Control Board Outside Lab Room
DRC Lab Watching Human Subjects Study
US-Japan Disaster Seminar 1972
US-Japan Disaster Seminar 1972
Support Our Work
Interested in supporting the preservation and digitization of this important work?
Make a gift to the E.L. Quarantelli Resource Collection Impact Fund today.
Examples of Specialized Collections
William (Bill) Anderson Collection
Dr. William (Bill) Averette Anderson was a preeminent scholar and DRC alumnus whose 50-year career advanced the field of disaster risk reduction. As the nation’s first African American sociologist of disaster, Dr. Anderson was prolific in his work as researcher and mentor. His papers and some personal effects are currently housed in the Quarantelli Resource Collection, available for use. We are working to preserve and digitize his work in hopes that his legacy will continue to live on.
T. Joseph Scanlon Collection
Professor Joe Scanlon was a journalism faculty member at Carleton University, Canada and a scholar of disaster response and communication. A prolific writer, he published more than 200 books, chapters, articles and monographs, some of which are found in the T. Joseph Scanlon Papers Collection. This gift to the DRC is composed of over seventy linear feet of manuscripts, research notes, data, historical documents, images, and other materials. His papers have been used by a variety of researchers and practitioners and reflect only a small sample of his remarkable lifetime of work.
Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program
In 1985, Congress ordered the Army to destroy the Nation’s chemical weapons stockpiles and to provide “maximum protection” to the public who live and work in and near the stockpile communities until the chemical agents are eliminated. CSEEP was implemented to work closely with communities near the stockpiles through final destruction and site closure. In 2025, DRC will receive a comprehensive archive of the program’ s training and close-out processes. This collection will be an important addition to our historical collection.
Interview with Jon Mooallem, author and journalist
Oral history Jon Mooallem
This interview with author and journalist Jon Mooallem points to the long-lasting value of the stories that can be found in DRC’s archives. When writing his book, This is Chance!: The Great Alaska Earthquake, Genie Chance, and the Shattered City She Held Together, Mooallem relied extensively on DRC records regarding the earthquake and, in particular, the notes from DRC field researchers who were on-site. In the interview, he talks about the genesis of his book, the research he did at DRC, and how he feels the DRC archives offer a vast potential for historical study, just waiting to be researched.
Hear more about Mooallem’s research in this podcast from The Daily.
Dispelling Disaster Myths and Misconceptions
Among the earliest findings of the Disaster Research Center’s quick response field work in the 1960s, these disaster myths initially seemed counterintuitive but have since become part of our understanding of post-disaster collective behavior. –Renderings by Melissa Shutz
Disaster Myth #1
“It is true that during times of stress, isolated cases of erratic or seemingly illogical behavior can be found. However, the overall picture is one of remarkable rationality and order. In general, it can be said that most human beings act in quite controlled and adaptive ways in the face of the new and extreme stresses which they face during a large-scale disaster.”
From DRC Article #2. Mass behavior and governmental breakdown in major disasters. Viewpoint of a researcher. (Quarantelli 1965)
Disaster Myth #2
“…research evidence suggests that some anticipated “Panic” behaviors are not too likely. People seldom flee wildly. In fact, the opposite is more of a problem that of getting people to leave their homes or neighborhoods, even when danger is visible.”
From DRC Article #2. Mass behavior and governmental breakdown in major disasters. Viewpoint of a researcher. (Quarantelli 1965)
Disaster Myth #3
“…few challenge that undergoing a disaster or catastrophe will, in various degrees, be stressful. The disagreement is on what are the psychological consequences of such an experience… More such outside-the-box scholarship is badly needed. The negative aspects of disaster. Should be empirically determined and must not be simply a priori matters of definition or assumption.”
From DRC Article #450: Conventional beliefs and counterintuitive realities (Quarantelli, 2008).
Disaster Myth #4
“Many personnel from emergency and response organizations, such as the police and hospitals, are subject to considerable conflict that generates psychological strain and stress. They consciously feel a concern about ensuring the safety of their family and significant others, and yet also feel they have professional responsibilities to carry out their work. So our concluding proposition is that role conflict is common, but role abandonment is rare.”
From DRC Article #450: Conventional beliefs and counterintuitive realities (Quarantelli, 2008)
Disaster Myth #5
“Instead of passivity and inaction, they documented over and over again that survivors usually quickly move to do what could be done in the situation. A good example of this is that by far the bulk of search and rescue activities, digging into the debris, and heading the injured toward medical treatment, is overwhelmingly carried out by survivors.”
From DRC Article #450: Conventional beliefs and counterintuitive realities (Quarantelli, 2008).
Fugitive Materials –Art by Melissa Shutz
LEARN MORE
Interested in learning more about the E.L. Quarantelli Resource Collection?
Reach out to us at elq-resource@udel.edu or visit us on our Collections site.
