7 7. INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT

A low-profile insect and rodent problem became apparent as noncollection material left the storage area, the shelving and flooring were cleaned, and the artifacts were rehoused. Pressure-sensitive door sweeps were placed on exterior building doors, the transition room doors, and the storage room doors. There was no budget for permanent door sweeps. Maintenance of the nonpermanent door sweeps was difficult, as they had to be replaced frequently, and often were not.

All floors were vacuumed with the HEPA vacuums. The social history curator and one volunteer mapped the entire building footprint and laid sticky monitoring traps throughout the building. Baited mousetraps were placed and monitored by the maintenance staff. Two General Electric 24.9 cu. ft. chest freezers were placed in the crew transition room. Any artifact with suspected infestation was prepared for freezing by the project crew. Holding areas for the freezer were set up in the storage area. A freezer schedule and log were maintained. Items inappropriate for freezing were sealed in polyethylene bags and placed under observation.