[Nhcoll-l] Collections and Covid-19

Fri Mar 13 16:46:58 EDT 2020

Rich et al.,

Our Executive Director for University Collections, Heather Calloway, distributed a document outlining a contagious outbreak action plan for Indiana University Collections. This document was modified from an action plan put out by the National Civil War Museum. 

Indiana University Collections | Contagious Outbreak Action Plan 

Main strategies: 

1.	Keeping our sites clean and sanitized
2.	Keeping staff healthy
3.	Adjusting for financial impacts

Strategy details, followed by task chart below.

Keeping sites clean and sanitized: 

1.	Create plan to sanitize surfaces that people touch often and more frequently: 

a.	Sanitize front desks and its computers and phones
b.	Sanitize door handles, handrails, elevator buttons, drinking fountains
c.	Sanitize touch screens and interactives
d.	Sanitize bathrooms (handles, sinks and counters, faucets, stall door latches, hand driers)
e.	Keep soap, sanitizer, and paper towels stocked
f.	Communicate plan to staff

2.	Purchase increased supplies for keeping sites cleaner

a.	Add more hand sanitizer stations (outside exhibits, at front desks)
b.	Explore adding foot-opening hardware to bottom of doors
c.	Add paper towel dispensers and paper towels in all bathrooms (not just stacks of paper towels)

3.	Create and add detailed handwashing signs to all bathrooms (4 Admin, 5 Tredegar museum, 2 Clay VC, 2 house, 4 APX)

i.	Something with details about using soap, scrubbing all parts of the hand, for 20 seconds, drying completely. 

Keeping staff healthy: 

1.	Encourage staff to stay home if feeling ill

a.	Educating staff on virus, symptoms, and its spread by sharing simple resources via email 

i.	 <https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/index.html> CDC: especially their  <https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html> FAQs,  <https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/prevention-treatment.html> prevention, and  <https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/symptoms.html> symptoms. 

b.	Explicitly encouraging the importance of all staff to stay home if sick, including opportunities for remote work. If working from home, staff should discuss his with their supervisor in advance and then check in with them daily. 
c.	Reminding part-time staff of PTO balances to use if they are sick or they need to care for a sick family member

i.	Question to Answer: After part-time staff exhaust their PTO and still need to stay home due to COVID-19, will the museum continue to pay them for their scheduled shifts until the epidemic around us is over? 
ii.	Question to answer: Will part-time staff who have not yet accrued PTO and need to stay home due to COVID-19 (their own illness or care of a sick family member) be paid for scheduled shifts like PTO?

Adjusting for financial impacts: 

1.	Monitoring staff cost impact on budget (ex: PTO)
2.	Monitoring expenses for initial supplies (ex: sanitizing cleaner, bathroom signs, etc.)

Strategy Task List and Timeline

Strategy Item

Lead Staff Person

Goal Completion Date

Status

Keeping sites clean and sanitized: 

1.       Create plan to sanitize surfaces that people touch often and more frequently: 

b.        Sanitize front desks and its computers and phones

c.        Sanitize door handles, handrails, elevator buttons, drinking fountains

d.        Sanitize touch screens and interactives

e.        Sanitize bathrooms (handles, sinks and counters, faucets, stall door latches, hand driers)

f.         Keep soap, sanitizer, and paper towels stocked

g.       Communicate plan to staff

2.       Purchase increased supplies for keeping sites cleaner

h.        Add more hand sanitizer stations (outside exhibits, at front desks)

i.         Explore adding foot-opening hardware to bottom of doors

j.         Add paper towel dispensers and paper towels in all bathrooms (not just stacks of paper towels)

k.        Facial tissue for the front desks 

3.       Create detailed handwashing signs for bathrooms

Add signs to all bathrooms (4 Admin, 5 Tredegar museum, 2 Clay VC, 2 house, 4 APX)

Keeping staff healthy: 

1.       Educating staff on virus, symptoms, and its spread by sharing simple resource via email 

2.       Explicitly encouraging the importance of all staff to stay home if sick, including opportunities for remote work. 

3.       Reminding part-time staff of PTO balances

4.       Paying part-time staff for shifts

Adjusting for financial impacts: 

1.       Monitoring for decrease in attendance, adjusting budgets if necessary

a.       Monitor general walk-in attendance, as well as groups

2.       Monitoring staff cost impact on budget 

3.       Monitoring expenses for initial supplies 

Cheers,
Gary

_____________________________________

Gary Motz

Research Affiliate – Paleobiology & Digitization

Center for Biological Research Collections

Chief Information Officer and

Assistant Director for Information Services

812-856-3500

420 N. Walnut St. | Bloomington, IN 47404

 <https://igws.indiana.edu/> website |  <https://twitter.com/InGeoSurvey/> twitter |  <mailto:igwsinfo at indiana.edu> email | 812-855-7636

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Richard Rabeler
Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2020 9:29 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Collections and Covid-19

Colleagues:

We are actively discussing plans for our research museum collections at the University of Michigan Research Museums Center over the next month or so, especially as it relates to students, volunteers, and visitors.  

While I have seen comments on AAMG-L about how people associated with public galleries are being impacted, I don't recall seeing the same from the collections community.  I suspect some of you, esp. in university collections, have been faced with class cancellations and restrictions on travel and possibly visitors and you are likely having similar conversations.  

Out of curiosity, how are you planning to handle activities in your collections?

Sincerely,

Rich Rabeler, 

Senior Collection Manager

University of Michigan Herbarium

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