2 messages, 224 lines:
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Date:         Fri, 22 Sep 1995 12:45:44 -0400
From:         Diana Marshall <marshd@SAGE.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Compact Shelving and serial togetherness.

On Thu, 21 Sep 1995, Mike Beier wrote:

>      The BYU library is expanding and will be
> centralizing all bound and unbound periodicals into a
> large(!) room in the new addition.  This room will be on
> the second level, and this question has arisen during the
> planning stages; do we want to reinforce the floor during
> the initial construction to accommodate the extra weight
> of compact shelving, should we find the need for CS down
> the road.  Of course this would raise the initial costs,
> but it would be much cheeper than a retro-fit later.  I
> was wondering how many of my fellow netters have
> experience with compact shelving and would be willing to
> share their experiences.

We, at the Sage Colleges house our bound periodicals and loose
periodicals together in the basement of the library.  Weight is not a
problem.

>      Question 2.  If you have a central periodicals area
> do you keep the bound and unbound issues together in a
> call number or alphabetical sequence, or do you have all
> unbound materials separate from the bound issues?  Do any
> of my serials colleagues have experience with shelving
> bound and unbound serials together in a central
> periodicals location?

Our periodicals are arranged alphabetically.  We have bound volumes on
the shelf in numerical order and the loose issues are kept next to them
in Princeton files.  When the file is full and/or the volume is complete,
we bind the volume.  We have tried to allow for five years' growth on the
shelves.  This is very hard to figure.  With adding new or changed
titles, or allowing for publishers' vagaries, five years' growth is
sometimes used faster than the space allotted.  Then we weed and
either discard (i.e. sell to O/P dealers) or move to a holding area.
Then the titles are out of the way, but still accessible for students
who need to use them.

Hope this helps.

Diana Marshall <marshd@SAGE.EDU>

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Date:         Fri, 22 Sep 1995 11:49:25 -0400
From:         Bill Benson <bensonwo@MAILGW.WL.WPAFB.AF.MIL>
Subject:      Compact Shelving - Lessons Learned

To Mike and other interested SERIALSTS,

Compact Shelving - Lessons Learned

I have worked with movable vendor companies selling Kardex and Spacesaver, but
not on a 2nd floor.  However, I supervised the move of a small library (40,000
volumes) to a 2nd floor while in Nurnberg, Germany, and have overseen
three large movable shelving projects (8,000 volumes, 15,000 volumes and
10,000 volumes at this Library).  We are still working on the latter project.

Here's what I've learned.  You can get VERY different prices from the vendors,
and save considerable $$$.  Shop around!  However, the final set up may not be
exactly what you started off with.  If they put the shelving on a concrete
floor, it needs to be sealed beforehand, or at least have plastic placed over
it.  The concrete accumulates moisture and can cause the wooden floor sections
to buckle.  In lieu of this, or perhaps in addition, consider having them
leave a small gap between the panels for moisture expansion.

*Note - when I use the word shelves, I am referring to the single (normally 3
foot) shelves.  When I use the word shelving, I am referring to an entire
"bookcase" (normally made up of 6 or 7 three foot shelves), or I am speaking
of an entire set of bookcases.

Be sure you tell them if you want backing, tops, sides, dividers, etc.
Assume nothing.  Take a look at what type of ramp you will have.  The flooring
of the movable shelving sits up about an inch or so above the regular floor.
Decide if you can live with the normally UGLY wooden flooring or want tile or
carpet over it.  If you are like us, some other company will probably put it
in.  If the shelving folks say they can cut through your present carpet and
put the tracks down, don't believe them.  I did, and am now minus one nice
carpet.  Realize that the tracks run in-between the shelving and will cause
problems when you need to run booktrucks over them, unless you get thick tile
or carpet.  With smaller lengths of shelving this is not much of a problem.

If you have a lot to move, figure on breaking at least one bookcart.  Going up
and down ramps and over the tracks can be pretty hard on the wheels.

If there are left over shelving sections, how will that be handled?  There are
almost always leftovers!  Can you get a credit?  If they goof and are short on
shelf parts, how long will it take them to get replacements?  They are
sometimes short some parts too!  Hey, this is fun, huh!

I suggest you buy a light portable ladder, available from Gaylord, etc. for
reaching the top shelves.

Be sure YOU get to decide how far apart the shelves will be.

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Some shelving has shelves that can be placed anywhere, but once they are
placed, can not be easily moved again (my current project - and this was NEWS
to me!).  Some shelving is movable whenever you want to move them, except
perhaps for one center shelf that might be bolted to the sides.

Tops are good for keeping the dust down, but some people leave them off and
can get seven highs out of the standard six high setup.  I have decided, after
several leaks in one storage room, that I like tops.  I am also amazed at how
much dust (black, yucky stuff) comes out of our "air handlers!"

If your shelving will be used a lot (versus storage of barely used materials)
consider the 'sliding factor.'  If the shelving companies were smart they
would put a special tape on the outside edges of the shelves to eliminate
books sliding out when a stack of shelves was quickly moved.  If possible
check out someone's movable shelving to see how they move.  I have even moved
them fast enough to jump the tracks - WOW!

There are different gear ratios for the manual systems, and some are better
than others.  I believe the installers can change these, but it is a bit late
after they have finished a few dozen.  And you won't know exactly what the
movement is like until you have loaded the shelves - empty shelves act much
differently than loaded ones.  Electronic motorized movement is an option, and
all systems now built should have sensors so that no one can be hurt by
someone else pushing a button.

On reinforcing the floor - you betcha!!!  You should have professional
engineers check the flooring and determine exactly what it can hold - get it
in writing!  I have serious doubts as to whether most 2nd story floors can
handle the weight of a normal library (i.e. with aisles), let alone movable
shelving which doubles the weight.  When we moved the library in Germany to
the 2nd floor, most customers liked our new setup better than where we had
been, so we wanted to stay, but the engineers would not allow it due to their
doubts about the strength of the structure over the long haul.

How level is your flooring?  How level will it be once there is tons of weight
on it?  We are lucky and have very thick concrete floors.  However, they are
uneven enough that the installers had to raise the tracks an inch or more in
places.  Even though they were careful at this, we still have some
"independent!" stacks that will roll down the tracks and try to squish us, if
we don't keep them locked.  (I need to ask if they can correct this.)

Other problems - We have one room where we left the center empty for storage
of boxes, etc.  This means we have track work that ends near the middle of the
room.  The way installers finish up the ends is important in these situations.
They normally cannot put ramps there, but they need to make smooth ends so no
one trips or cuts themselves!  Bright yellow or orange, paint or tape, may
also be in order, to alert customers of a potentially dangerous situation.

On labeling - Yes, you will need to label the stored items so the shelvers can
get them back to their correct homes.  We used round colored dots made by
Avery that are sold in most office supply stores.  They were easy to peel off
and to put on, and when we went to a second storage area, I could have used
another color..... But guess what - after labeling all 15,000, I read the fine
print and found that they were "removable" dots.  So over the years, some do
fall off, but we have learned to live with it.  We keep a box of labels on the
journal return cart just in case.

Try to use more permanent sticking labels, unless you think you might be
moving journal sets that prove popular back to the main collection.  One
alternative would be to make a mask and spray paint them somehow.  This would
be fast, but would of course be quite permanent.  I suggest you have the
labelers use a cataloger's bone tool to help the staff reinforce the labels.
Just had a *** NEW IDEA ***!  Use blank labels from a Circulation Desk type
labeler!  They will stick better, can be quickly added, and could be removed
if needed!

If you end up with left over shelving space, you can always use it as a
holding area for other excess materials, or supplies.  We later moved some
other journals and now refer customers to the rooms "West End."  It causes
some confusion, but its better than wasting the space.

If possible, have the library shelvers write down the titles being reshelved
in the storage area, and keep this on file, either manually, or in a database.
Then you will be able to tell 1) what is popular and needs to be put back with
the main collection, and 2) what can be permanently weeded someday.

Our latest shelving project cost $27,000 and will hold about 10,000 bound
volumes.  $3,000 of this was for installation.  When we moved the 15,000
volumes we counted all bound volumes, and came up with an average of 20.15
bound volumes per shelf.  These are mostly scientific and technical journals.

Over a recent three day period, we had technicians shifting journals from
the main library to a close by storage room (75 yards away).  They averaged
4.9, 3.6, 4.4, and 4.8 shelves per hour.  Most higher numbers were when two
people worked together, and the smaller number was for one person working
alone.  Again, 6 shelves would equal the standard bookcase.  They worked for
two to two and a half hours each.  I have done enough shifting myself, to feel
that they actually worked a bit harder than what I would judge to be average.
I expect working longer hours would lower these numbers, and expect they may
dip as the project continues.  Note that they are working in alphabetical
order pulling journals per a list that I created.  The list contains the
title, present location, and holdings.  I presently use dBase III Plus for our
holdings data.

To answer your other question, we have bound and unbound journals together and
have never found it a problem.  Separating them makes it much harder on the
customers.  We do use lots of princeton files.  We have them in alphabetical
sequence, and we have a separate reading room with the most recent issues as
well.

I hope some of this information has been of use.  Perhaps I'll publish a more
formal paper in the future, since I seem to have so much to say on the topic.
Hope I haven't bored you or the other readers.

Have fun,

Bill Benson                  Internet: bensonwo@wl.wpafb.af.mil
Serials Librarian            Phone: (513) 255-6750
Wright Lab Tech Library      Fax: (513) 476-4826
2690 C ST  STE 4
Wright Patterson AFB OH 45433-7411

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