Trap & Track
In June, we’re focusing on integrated pest management (IPM). IPM is crucial for a safe working environment and the long-term protection of collections, archives, and historic structures. If you have had the privilege of working for a museum organization with a talented and dedicated collections staff, consider yourself lucky. IPM takes resources, but we’re here with some advice for small organizations.
Build your toolkit (~$15/room)
Create a worksheet to monitor environmental conditions and pest activity
Purchase these Honeywell monitors
Set up a few traps in each room of your building – both collections and office spaces, if they are connected
Set a calendar reminder once a month to spend time in each room of your facility and monitor conditions
Reporting and monitoring
You can be as high-tech or low-tech as you’d like to be with this process. In a former role with a low collections budget, each museum space has a clipboard, pencil, and monitor. On a monthly basis, staff took time to monitor and report to the single, part-time collections staff if there were changes or issues. If you have a tablet or even a phone, you can put a small QR code on the back of each monitor and login to a spreadsheet or form. If you have a laptop and reliable WiFi, you can log on the go.
Environmental Monitors
Honeywell approached The House of the Seven Gables during my tenure there and donated these convenient monitors in exchange for some content creation. Prior to the donation, the organization did not have individual monitoring in each room. Even though the data was manually collected, it was essential data that supported stabilization efforts in temperatures and relative humidity. A stable environment in good range is also poor breeding ground for pests.
Of course, there are higher tech options that tie into automated systems. Anytime we can automate out systems and save time is appreciated, but sometimes that option isn’t the budget-friendly starter.
Trapping and tracking
If you don’t have a known pest issues, placing a few traps for monitoring is a great practice to be in. Make sure traps a clearly labeled and dated.
If you DO have a known pest issue, sticky traps can be a big support. Using additional traps in place with known IPM issues can help you to determine pest movement and type. For example, you might be dealing with case-making moths and black carpet beetles in a wool rug. A well-placed trap can help you to determine exactly what adult pests you’re working with, allowing you to identify the hungry larvae in the rug, and where these pests are moving from. Pest traps can also be hung in discreet locations to track flying pests and help to determine other issues.
Important pro tip: replace those traps! Dead pests are food for other critters – and you don’t want to keep the vicious cycle going.
Make the time
The basics of IPM don’t need to be incredibly time-consuming. If you are lucky enough to not have issues, set a reminder and block time on your calendar every 4-6 weeks to take a walk through ALL of the spaces. If you notice issues, you’ll want to monitor more frequently.
Like all preventative conservation, early detection of IPM challenges will have better outcomes for your collections, archives, working environments, and budget.