Presenting a Crisis Management Model in Iran's Archival Centers: Pre-crisis and Confronting Stage

The purpose of this research is to present a crisis management model in the archival centers of Iran during the pre-crisis and confronting stage. The present study was conducted with a qualitative approach using the grounded theory method. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews. Data saturation was a major factor in determining sample size. The research population included 20 crisis management specialists and managers of archives in Iran. Data analysis was performed in three stages: open, axial, and selective coding. The paradigmatic model derived from the findings of the research includes the sections of the causal conditions, strategies, intervening conditions and the underlying conditions and their outcomes. The causal conditions are located in two categories of internal crises such as biological crises and lack of proper management, and external crises such as natural disasters, fires and human-made crises. Intervener conditions and backgrounds include categories such as lack of specialist staff training, lack of appropriate environmental conditions and management mechanisms, archival building, use of the crisis map during a crisis, and use of a variety of archival equipment to confront with fire, and human resources issues. To prevent and confront the effects of the crisis in archives, some strategies are required such as modern education for resilience, teaching how to use records, decision-making in crisis conditions standardizing buildings and equipment (non-use of steel skeletons in building archives, use of concrete skeletons Armed or metal, as well as the use of walls and doors and floors of anti-fire covers) in the building of archives and the establishment of multi-layer protective systems for the protection of documents.