Online course on pest management

MS210: Integrated Pest Management for Museums, Historic Houses and Archives
Instructor: Gretchen Anderson with support from BIRC
Online course (Internet)
September 5 - September 30, 2005
Price: $350

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a low-toxicity method of
controlling pest infestations. In museums, IPM has become the
standard method of treating incoming collections and monitoring
collection holdings. This course, new to the Northern States
Conservation Center's on-line course catalog, defines IPM, discusses
how infestations occur, helps you identify your risks, provides
feasible mitigation strategies, discusses the different techniques
of treating infested materials, and helps you complete an IPM plan
and monitoring schedule tailored for your institution. The course
covers insect, rodent/mammal, bird, bat and mold infestations. Other
infestations will be covered according to student needs. Pest
identification and eradication are covered.  Students will complete
the course with a written IPM plan and monitoring schedule that fits
the needs of their institution.

Gretchen Anderson co-wrote A Holistic Approach to Museum Pest
Management, American Association for State and Local History (AASLH)
Technical Leaflet 191 in 1990. She established the Science Museum of
Minnesota's Conservation Department in 1989 after conservation
internships and courses at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the
American Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian's Conservation
Analytical Lab, the Canadian Conservation Institute, Getty
Conservation Lab, and the Minnesota Historical Society. At the
Science Museum she established a rigorous IPM program and continues
to experiment with least-toxic pest control techniques. A member of
the American Institute for Conservation and the Society for the
Preservation of Natural History Collections, Ms. Anderson lectures
and presents workshops on preventive conservation, IPM, and
practical methods and materials for storage of collections. She is
committed to increasing public understanding of the role of
conservation in preservation, both inside and outside of the museum.

Support for the course is provided by Bio-Integral Resource Center
(BIRC) in Berkeley, California. BIRC is a nonprofit organization
offering over 25 years of insight, experience, and leadership in the
development and communication of least-toxic, sustainable, and
environmentally sound Integrated Pest Management (IPM) methods. BIRC
has worked with local, state, and national agencies in devising
programs of scientific research, policy, project design and
implementation.

The course will last for four weeks. The course format is self-paced
through 8 sections. The instructor will be available at
predetermined intervals throughout the course. This course will
include on-line literature, slide lectures, and
student-teacher/group-teacher dialog. The course is limited to 20
participants.

If you are interested in the course, please sign up at
<URL:http://www.museumclasses.org> and pay for the course at
<URL:http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html>. BIRC members will
receive a 10% discount for this course.  Please note your membership
status on your order in our comments field. If you have trouble
completing an on-line order, please contact Helen Alten at
helen<-a t->collectioncare< . >org.

IPM Course Outline

    1.  IPM Introduction:
        define agents of deterioration and pests
        give an outline for an institutional IPM.

    2.  Pest Risks / Environmental Causes
        Food Sources
        Habitat
        Water
        Definition of Problem
        Where they come from
        Why they come
        Who they are
        Resources for more Information

    3.  Monitoring

            a) Pest identification
            b) Procedures of monitoring

    4.  Mitigation Strategies

        1. Housekeeping / Staff Procedures
        2. Environmental Control
        3. Building and grounds Maintenance

    5.  Treatment Strategies
        1.  Thermal (up and down)
        2.  Anoxia (all types)
            a. gas
            b. oxygen scavenger
            c. vacuum
         3.  Chemical

    4.  Implement Strategies

    6.  Regular review
        Check Efficacy / Tweak Procedures /
            Update IPM / Communication

    7.  Staff Support
        How do you get buy-in from other staff members?

    8.  Conclusion
        Complete your own institutional IPM
        Bibliography


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 19:9
                  Distributed: Friday, August 12, 2005
                        Message Id: cdl-19-9-014
                                  ***