[Nhcoll-l] Museum main entrance solutions?

[William Shepherd]

Hello Erica,

	While staff/guest safety is paramount, we won't be propping our doors open. Between the temp/rh fluctuations and opening a highway for pests it's minor short term gains in exchange for long term issues.

	We'll have various signage up, some from the municipality and some internal, as visitors come in. They'll be asked to use the hand sanitizer and encouraged to wear non-medical masks. Reception staff will be doing the occasional sanitizing of high touch surfaces such as the doors. Unfortunately our doors don't have accessible buttons or those would be encouraged. Automatic doors with a vestibule would be the best case scenario. No direct free flow of air and no touching of the doors as well. 

	Regardless if people actually follow health recommendation such as sanitizing their hands and not touching their face, at this point it's pretty general knowledge. It's someone is going to touch a door handle and then stick their hand in their mouth, they're going to do it every place they go in. We do what we can, but at the end of the day the ultimate responsibility is up to the individual to not do a COVID challenge.

	I believe that the most recent information coming out is that surfaces are generally poor transmitters of COVID-19. Transmission tends to happen most from person to person by breath (breathing?). I could be wrong on this. Marking out the floor and encouraging social distancing would probably have a greater effect than keeping visitors from touching the entrance doors. 

	My two thoughts but I'm certainly interested in what others are doing.

William Shepherd
Director (Acting)
& Collections Officer
Swift Current Museum
44 Robert Street West
Swift Current, Saskatchewan
S9H 4M9
Phone: 306-778-4815
Fax: 306-778-4818

Please note that the Museum and Archives are closed to the public until further notice to limit COVID-19 transmission. Staff will be available by email and phone but onsite visits will not be permitted.

Archives: http://sain.scaa.sk.ca/collections/swift-current-museum
Library: https://www.librarything.com/profile/SwiftCurrentMuseum 
Website: http://www.swiftcurrent.ca

-----Original Message-----
From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Wheeler, Erica J RBCM:EX
Sent: June 26, 2020 12:01 PM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Museum main entrance solutions?

Hello Colleagues,


If you work at a museum and are now open to the public, or are considering opening soon, what solution have you landed on for your main doors in terms of providing a no/limited touch entrance AND maintaining the building envelope for preventive conservation purposes?  Would you ever consider propping your main entrance doors open?


Thanks!


Erica


______________________________________________________________________________________________

Erica Wheeler PhD     Head of Collections Care and Conservation  |  Collections Care and Conservation


ROYAL BC MUSEUM
Traditional Territory of the Lekwungen (Songhees and Xwsepsum Nations)
675 Belleville Street, Victoria, BC Canada V8W 9W2 T 250 480-8369
EWheeler at royalbcmuseum.bc.ca<mailto:EWheeler at royalbcmuseum.bc.ca>   |   royalbcmuseum.bc.ca<https://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca>

Welcome back to the Royal BC Museum! You’ll see new operating hours, timed tickets and changes to help you maintain physical distancing during your visit. Click here<https://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/we-woolly-missed-you>　for more information about these and other improvements.
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