Jill Smith
Staff Writer
[email protected]

Representatives of EBSCO, a library database, granted free access to the Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Reference Center for all Kentucky Virtual Library members, which will be available through June. Murray State subscribes to EBSCO’s database, so students, faculty and staff will be able to access it. 

The Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Reference Center provides small businesses with resources on how to prepare for worst-case scenarios.

To be a member of KYVL, an individual must be a student, librarian, teacher or part of an organization that has access to these library resources. 

According to a press release from KYVL, the database contains hundreds of resources on disaster recovery, crisis communications and more. 

“The center contains more than 240 full-text publications, along with cover-to-cover indexing for nearly 270 journals, monographs, magazines and trade publications, all with a strong focus on business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR) and closely aligned issues,” according to the press release. “It features BC/DR-focused articles, benchmarks and best practices selected from leading trade and industry publications.”  

Center for the Economic and Entrepreneurial Development Director Chris Wooldridge said this center, which is an outreach program for 24 Kentucky counties, works with small businesses to stabilize or expand operations. 

Wooldridge said this resource should be utilized by all businesses. 

“If they are in a process where they’re either trying to reevaluate starting their business back up, or evaluating where they want to go from here, given the challenges that we’ve had, both with COVID, as well as with the tornadoes … [they can] access that and get it now because at some point, it won’t be available as it is now,” Wooldridge said. 

Business Librarian Dana Thompson worked with the database, providing information Wooldridge said is helpful to both individual businesses and other service providers and organizations.

This resource can be helpful to economic developers or individuals who work in a local chamber of commerce that assists businesses in need. 

“They are typically the first person that touches those businesses that walk in and say, ‘I’ve lost half my building, how do I get started or where are we from a resource standpoint on information that I need,’ ” Wooldridge said.

Interim Dean of Libraries Cris Ferguson said this database will be helpful to businesses affected by the Dec. 10, 2021, tornadoes. 

“It’s a great resource, not only for our students in the College of Business, but also for local businesses, small businesses that were affected by the tornadoes, and even the recent ice storms, that might be struggling,” Ferguson said. 

She said this database allows individuals to learn from others while also preparing for the future. 

“It is specifically focused on disaster recovery, so people being affected by these storms can go in and see what other businesses have done,” Ferguson said. “People can develop a recovery plan to be prepared in case of a future disaster—this is not just about recovery but also about preparedness for the future.”

Businesses not affected by the tornadoes can still utilize the database. 

“You’re never going to have too much information on small business,” Wooldridge said. “It’s timely now, it’s good information that we should pull and I really would like to see businesses get in the habit of using Murray State as a resource more.”

Although no login information is currently required to access the database, it will be required after June.   

“As of right now, any local business could access this link from their home,” Ferguson said. “Wherever they find it, they can come to our library website and click on it, but also because we’ve been sending out newsletters and sharing those—if someone emailed them the link, they can just click on [it].”

Thompson said those still interested and wanting access after June can find access through a library or organization that subscribes to the EBSCO database by visiting KYVL’s website at kyvl.org/bcr.