UB Librarians Offer One-Stop Web Site for Information on Tsunami Disaster in Southeast Asia

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Librarians at the University at Buffalo have put together a one-stop Web site to help the public keep abreast of the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster.

The Web site at http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/asl/ links to up-to-date news on the situation from the United Nations, CNN, the BBC, The New York Times and Reuters, background information on the seismology of earthquakes and resulting tsunamis, and links to many reputable disaster-relief organizations currently working in the area affected by the disaster, including World Vision, the United Nations, Save the Children and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

It also offers hotline information numbers for each of the countries most seriously affected: India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and the Maldives, and links to sites carrying up-to-date information and maps about the disaster-relief efforts in each country.

Links to the U.S. Geological Services (USGS), the USGS National Earthquake Information Center, the Global Earthquake Report (the worldwide earthquake locater) and the UB's Multidisciplinary Center on Earthquake Engineering Research offer accurate data for those interested in the current geological status of the area and the state of its constructed environment.

David Bertuca, associate librarian in UB's Arts and Sciences Libraries, who helped design the site, says, "We want to offer the public a way to get fast, accurate information from a variety of national and international sources and to facilitate the involvement of individuals in the relief efforts.

"This is what librarians do," he says.

"We're information specialists and we serve the public interest by making sure the most accurate information out there is available to everyone so they can educate themselves and make informed decisions about what to do with what they learn."