Tip #8: Creepy crawlies won’t wait for an invitation to come for dinner.

Written By Dmitri Schmidt

It’s one thing to set an extra place at dinner, but uninvited guests in the archives are a different story. And we’re not talking about a researcher without an appointment. If you’re not careful this holiday season, you might be providing a meal for hungry bookworms too.

But what exactly is a “bookworm” anyway? Well, first of all they’re not worms. “Bookworm” is a broad term that actually refers to any insect that feeds off book material. And there’s a lot. This includes things like beetles, moths, cockroaches, silverfish, ants, and of course the dreaded termites.

As with much archival damage, the best approach is always prevention. Bugs tend to prefer warm humid dinner parties, so avoid fluctuations in temperature and relatively high humidity. And of course, never ever share your Thanksgiving leftovers with them. No matter how delicious your second aunt’s green bean casserole is, crumbs might as well be an open invitation for an infestation. Preventing pests is a little like thawing a turkey. If you want to avoid panicking, you have to plan ahead. Also, you can’t do it in one day.

Critters aside though, from our Backlog family to yours, happy Thanksgiving!

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Dmitri Schmidt

Dmitri plays a pivotal role in coordinating Backlog’s outreach efforts. They curate our weekly #FridayFinds and #ArchivalTips social media posts, shedding light on items discovered in our genealogy work and providing tips and tricks to approaching problems in the archives.

Dmitri holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and German Studies from Saint Louis University. During their university years, they dedicated over 1000 hours to interning and volunteering at local St. Louis institutions, including the St. Louis Science Center and the St. Louis University Museum of Art. As the Collections Intern at the Science Center, Dmitri assisted in developing and installing the "Into the Vault" exhibit.

Before joining Backlog, Dmitri served as a Fulbright Grantee, teaching English as a second language in former East Germany. From guiding 11th graders in analyzing pop albums as poetry to discussing the significance of the civil rights movement with 8th graders, they covered a broad spectrum of subjects. While reveling in connecting with students and injecting fun into grammar lessons, Dmitri's deep passion for all things archival eventually drew them back home.

Today, Dmitri works as a Herbarium Assistant at the Missouri Botanical Garden, helping digitize the millions of preserved plant specimens. After being scanned and transcribed, these images aid scholars around the globe in furthering botanical research. Dmitri also serves as the archivist for the Kirkwood Historical Society. They are currently overseeing the “Journeys into Kirkwood’s History” project, which aims to digitize documents related to Kirkwood’s early Black settlements.

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