Announcement for IPM Databases
The Integrated Pest Management Working Group (IPM-WG) is a group of 
collection managers, conservators and other professionals interested 
in issues surrounding the implementation of integrated pest 
management in museum and other collection-holding institutions. The 
group is informally hosted by the American Museum of Natural History 
in New York and meets on an ad-hoc basis. The goal of the group is to 
promote and facilitate good IPM practices and collaboration between 
staff and institutions through the development and on-line 
distribution of training materials and other resources. The group 
also maintains the IPM listserve which provides a forum for 
discussion of IPM-related topics. Gathering and managing pest 
activity data is an essential part of any IPM program. As part of 
IPM-WG's effort to provide museums with on-line IPM resources, the 
Working Group is in the process of developing an on-line tool for 
tracking and managing pest data which will be made accessible over 
the IPM-WG website ( www.museumpests.net). The key purpose of this 
on-line resource is to offer museums and other institutions the 
framework needed to develop individualized databases tailored to 
accommodate their collections. To assist in this endeavor, we are 
asking interested museums to provide us with examples of their 
electronic systems (e.g., types of database platforms, types of 
software and report generators) that they are now using to document 
these activities. It is possible that we may request examples of 
individual database programs and copies of generated reports to be 
made accessible over the IPM-WG's website. Any concerns a museum may 
have over such issues as permissions, credit lines or 
confidentiality, will certainly be respected. Below is a list of 
information the Working Group is interested in compiling. This 
information, along with any IPM database program or report that you 
would be willing to share with us, can be sent electronically to 
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask] or by mail to Linda 
Klise, Peabody Museum, 170 Whitney Ave., P.O. Box 208118, New Haven, 
CT 06520-8118. While you may submit it at your convenience, we would 
appreciate receiving it as soon as possible to facilitate our ongoing 
analysis. Thank you for taking the time to send us this information.

                              Integrated Pest Management Working Group
                                     Database Self Evaluation

Following is a list of the information we would like each respondent 
to supply. Please be as complete as possible, but realize that if 
some questions are left blank, your response is still valuable.

    1. Name (optional)
    2. Institution (optional)
    3. Name of the database program (if applicable)
    4. Database "language" (e.g., Access, Excel, FileMaker)
    5. Who created the database?
    6. When was it created?
    7. Was the database developed commercially?
    8. Cost of the database
    9. How many data fields? (Include a list of data fields if desired.)
   10. Who is the primary user of the database?
   11. Level of computer experience? (Beginner, Intermediate, Expert)
   12. Level of pest identification literacy? (Beginner, Intermediate, Expert)
   13. Is the database developer also the primary user? (Yes, No, 
There are many users)
   14. Ratings:
       a. Data Entry (Very slow, Slow, Medium, Fast, Very fast)
       b. Ease of Use (Very difficult, Difficult, Medium, Easy, Very easy)
       c. Data Retrieval (Difficult, Medium, Simple)
   15. How long does it take to enter pest information for 10 pest 
observations?
       (do not include time taken in identifying the pests)
   16. Can you create paper reports? (Are you willing to provide 
samples? How are reports
       used? (IPM planning, Education, Justification for funds 
requests, Cleaning
       requests, HVAC modification requests, Building maintenance 
requests, Cabinetry
       requests, Other)
   17. Can observation data be mapped for visualization of spatial 
occurrence of pests?
       (Yes, No)
   18. Strengths of your database?
   19. Weaknesses of your database?
   20. Features your database includes but that you never use.
   21. Features you wish your database included.


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