Health sciences librarians' reference services during a disaster: more than collection protection.

Reliable and timely professional information services are always important, but even more so during a community-wide disaster, like the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. There are classes and literature on planning for library collection protection in local emergencies, but little about planning for reference and information services. Four accounts from South Louisiana in September of 2005 demonstrate the value of proactive and innovative services based on professional information needs analysis skills. More study of such cases could lead to the development of best practice guidelines for the planning and provision of disaster information services.