Disaster Lit: Selection Guidelines
Materials we add to the Disaster Lit® database must align with the scope of the database and support the NLM DIMRC mission and goals. Our selection process, described below, ensures that we add only high-quality resources.
Approved Sources List
We conducted a wide search of established, trustworthy, non-commercial organizations, resulting in a list of over 1,400 authoritative entities involved in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. They are government agencies, national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), think tanks, research institutes, higher learning institutions, and more. Examples include:
- Federal Emergency Management Agency
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- World Health Organization
- International Federation of the Red Cross/Red Crescent
- Columbia University, Earth Institute, National Center for Disaster Preparedness
- Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
- RAND Corporation
We continuously evaluate sources and update the list, adding new organizations and removing others as needed.
We also prioritize our sources. Priority One sources regularly and consistently publish grey literature that is in scope for Disaster Lit.
Selection Process
Our selectors follow a documented selection process focusing on Priority One sources. Every day they review material published by these sources via RSS feeds, social media accounts, and email subscriptions, in search of resources that are in scope for Disaster Lit.
If a new resource from an approved source is in scope, our selectors ensure that it is openly available online, in an accessible format, at no cost. Resources that meet these criteria are added to the Disaster Lit database.
Current Priority One Sources
A
- Administration for Children and Families [U.S. Department of Health and Human Services]
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
- Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
- Alabama Department of Public Health
- American College of Emergency Physicians
- American College of Physicians
- American Hospital Association
- American Medical Association
- American Nurses Association
- American Psychiatric Association
- American Psychological Association
- American Public Health Association
- American Red Cross
- American Veterinary Medical Association
- Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc.
- Association of Public Health Laboratories
- Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health
- Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
B
C
- California Environmental Protection Agency
- Canadian Red Cross
- Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress [Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences]
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response
- Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, a WHO Collaborating Centre
- City of New York, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
- Columbia University, Earth Institute, National Center for Disaster Preparedness
- Columbia University, Graduate School of Journalism, Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma
- Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health
- Congressional Research Service [Library of Congress]
- Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
- Council on Foreign Relations
E
- Emergency Management Forum
- European Union, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
- Evidence Aid
F
H
- Hastings Center
- Health Canada
- Health Resources and Services Administration
- Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
- Homeland Security Digital Library
I
- International Atomic Energy Agency
- International Committee of the Red Cross
- International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
- International Tsunami Information Center
J
- Japan Center for International Exchange
- Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
- Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health Preparedness
- Joint Commission
K
L
N
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Health and Medicine Division
- National Academies Press
- National Association of County and City Health Officials
- National Association of State EMS Officials
- National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health [Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences]
- National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense
- National Center for PTSD [Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder] [U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs]
- National Child Traumatic Stress Network
- National Disaster Interfaiths Network
- National Environmental Health Association
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Emergency Medical Services
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases [National Institutes of Health]
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences [National Institutes of Health]
- National Institute of Mental Health [National Institutes of Health]
- National Library of Medicine [National Institutes of Health]
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- National Organization on Disability
- National Security Council [Executive Office of the President]
- National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters
- New England Center for Emergency Preparedness
- New York University, Center for Catastrophe Preparedness and Response
O
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration [U.S. Department of Labor]
P
R
S
- Society for Public Health Educators
- Society of Critical Care Medicine
- South Central Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center
- Sphere Project
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
T
U
- U.S. Agency for International Development
- U.S. Agency for International Development, Bureau for Global Health
- U.S. Agency for International Development, Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance
- U.S. Army Public Health Center
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- U.S. Department of Education
- U.S. Department of Energy
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- U.S. Department of State
- U.S. Department of Transportation
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Homeland Security Research Center
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, Office of Emergency Management
- U.S. Fire Administration
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- U.S. Government Accountability Office
- U.S. House of Representatives
- U.S. National Response Team
- U.S. Office of the Surgeon General
- U.S. Senate
- U.S. Senate, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
- United Nations
- United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat
- United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
- University at Albany Center for Public Health Preparedness, State University of New York
- University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, Center for Infectious Diseases and Emergency Readiness
- University of Colorado at Boulder, Natural Hazards Center
- University of Delaware, Disaster Research Center
- University of Iowa, College of Public Health, Upper Midwest Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center
- University of Minnesota, School of Public Health
- University of North Carolina, Gillings School of Global Public Health
- University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Southwest Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center
- University of South Florida, College of Public Health, Center for Leadership in Public Health Practice
- University of Washington, Northwest Center for Public Health Practice