Recognized as a BEST PRACTICE by the METRO RICHMOND EMERGENCY PLANNING GROUP (March 2000).
SITE INTRODUCTION:
Integrated Emergency Management BENCHMARK is a site designed to assist students of emergency management in research in the discipline. BENCHMARK is posted and maintained by Dr. Walter G. Green III of the University of Richmond. All sites are checked at least quarterly to ensure that URLs are still functional. Comments on the value of this site and suggested additions are welcomed and should be addressed to the contact address at the bottom of the page.
POLICY ON COPYRIGHT VIOLATION AND PLAGARISM:
Integrated Emergency Management BENCHMARK supports academic integrity. This site does not knowingly link to any site that infringes the copyright of any author in print or electronic media. This site does not knowingly link to any site that plagarizes the work of other authors, on the Internet, in print, or in manuscript. If you believe that any site to which this site is linked violates either of these standards, please provide particulars to the contact address below.
SITE SELECTION AND ASSESSMENT:
Not all sites associated with emergency management are included in this site's links. Sites included in BENCHMARK are selected based on the following criteria (note that all interpretations of criteria are the site manager's alone although I welcome input from users):
(1) Credibility of the site. This does not necessarily mean that information on the site is accurate or truthful. Some sites are selected even though they are clearly not truthful; in these cases sites are selected because they are good examples of a particular viewpoint or value set.
(2) Currency and accuracy. Some sites selected are not current, but will be retained as long as the link survives for their possible historical value. Sites which purport to be accurate, but clearly have errors, as opposed to differences of interpretation of reality, have been excluded to the greatest extent possible.
(3) Depth, breadth, and uniqueness of information. In general, sites rich in information original to the site have been preferred.
(4) Research value. Sites are generally selected based on their possible contribution to research in the discipline.
Sites are assessed in the commentary line beneath the site title as a guide to selecting the most productive sources. These gradings do not imply anything about the value of the site to others or to the originating organization or individual; they are intended as a guide only within the context of this research tool. The assessment scale used is as follows:
A - a site that is particularly rich in material of possible value for academic research.
B - a site of average research value or which is of excellent quality but the material is largely peripheral to the field of emergency management.
C - a site with supporting information or which does contribute to general understanding of the range of uses of the Internet in emergency management.
M - a site which consists primarily of large collections of links.
X - a site which exists but is under construction.
Within the A, B, and C assessments, plus and minus are used to distinguish higher or lesser levels of applicability to the focus of this site.
REEVALUATION:
All sites listed are reevaluated at least every six months for content, and those marked as under construction are visited more frequently to ensure they are appropriately assessed.
UPDATE:
This site is under construction. Date of last update is 9 April 2000.