Collections Care: Pest Management

In a museum or archive, pests—which can include animals, insects, mold, fungi, and mildew—can cause widespread damages to certain types of collections, often going undetected for lengthy periods of time. Adopting an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan can help your organization to monitor and prevent damage. Tips for monitoring pests and dealing with any damage can be found in the resources below. See also other toolkits based on materials, such as “Glass, Ceramics, and Stone,” “Metal Objects," and “Organic Materials” for other item-specific tips.

General Guidance

• Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery: What’s Eating Your Collection?
• Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI)
  • “Detecting Infestations: Facility Inspection Procedure and Checklist,” CCI Notes 3/2
  • “Preventing Infestations: Control Strategies and Detection Methods,” CCI Notes 3/1
• Connecting to Collections Care: “Pest Management” Webinar (Presenter: Donia Conn)
• Library of Congress: “Frequently Asked Questions Collection Emergencies”
• Insects Limited, Inc.: “The Dirty Dozen on Museum Pests”
• National Park Service
  • “Integrated Pest Management”
  • “Anoxic Microenvironments: A Treatment for Pest Control” (Conserve O Gram Series, May 1999, 3/9)
  • Museum Handbook: Chapter 5: “Biological Infestations”
• Northeast Document Conservation Center: “Integrated Pest Management”
• Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute
  • “An IMP Checklist for Planning & Implementing Pest Control on Art & Artifact Collections”
  • “Integrated Pest Management Checklist”

Mold

• Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI)
  • “Mould Growth on Textiles,” CCI Notes 13
  • “Removing Mould from Leather,” CCI Notes 8
• Connecting to Collections Care: “Mold!” Webinar (Presenter: Tara Kennedy, Yale University Library)
• Government of Canada: Mould Outbreak – An Immediate Response
• Northeast Document Conservation Center: “Emergency Salvage of Moldy Books and Paper”
• National Park Service: “Mold: Prevention Of Growth In Museum Collections” (Conserve O Gram Series, August 2008, 3/1)

Insects

• Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI)
  • “Controlling Insect Pests with Low Temperature,” CCI Notes 3/3
  • “Psocids or ‘Book Lice’: a Warning of Dampness,” CCI Notes 3/4
• Connecting to Collections Care: “Identifying Museum Insect Pest Damage and Addressing it with Integrated Pest Management” Webinar (Presenters: Carol DiSalvo and Barbara Cumberland of the National Park Service)
• National Park Service
  • “An Insect Pest Control Procedure: The Freezing Process” (Conserve O Gram Series, July 1994, 3/6)
  • “Controlling Insect Pests: Alternatives To Pesticides” (Conserve O Gram Series, August 1998, 3/8)
  • “Identifying Museum Insect Pest Damage” (Conserve O Gram Series, August 2007, 3/4)
  • “Monitoring Insect Pests With Sticky Traps” (Conserve O Gram Series, August 1998, 3/7)