As part of its preservation efforts, the Museum has established a management program to mitigate damage from biological organisms. The Museum's strategy for controlling and eradicating pests is Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The components of our IPM program include monitoring, identification, inspection, habitat modification, good housekeeping, treatment action, education, and evaluation. IPM is preferred in a museum setting because it reduces risks to artifact collections and personnel and is most effective when conducted as a team effort. Thorough monitoring by the entire Museum staff between scheduled weekly IPM duties will ensure that the Museum remains a relatively pest-free environment.
Monitoring is conducted with a system of traps and by the collection of pests when observed. Traps are placed in strategic areas to best sample pest populations and collected periodically. Pests found in traps throughout the facility are identified and their provenance is recorded in the IPM-Pests and IPM-Traps databases. The IPM program is the responsibility of the Collections Management Section under the purview of the Collections Manager.
Spurlock Museum IPM practices and procedures are described in the Spurlock Museum Integrated Pest Management Manual. It covers the following topics:
List of Topics in the Museum's IPM practices
- Monitoring;
- Trap location and loading/collection;
- Pest identification: guide and specimens;
- Pest archiving: pinning specimens;
- Inspection;
- Habitat modification: food, inorganic barrier, airflow and prohibition on plants;
- Good housekeeping;
- Treatment action;
- Disinfestations of objects: freezing and mechanical removal (vacuuming);
- IPM kit: instructions, material list, and distribution guide;
- Entering data into the IPM-Pests and IPM-Traps databases;
- Environmental monitoring;
- Mold; and
- Photographs and illustrations of materials, equipment, and techniques used in IPM.