Compact shelving - summary from many responses
From: "Linwood DeLong" <linwood.delong_at_uwinnipeg.ca>
Dear Librarians,
Thank you to all of those who replied to my question about
compact shelving. With one or two exceptions, everyone seems to
have had positive experiences with it. The text below
summarizes the responses, but omits anything that might be
sensitive in terms of cost, etc.
Linwood DeLong
University of Winnipeg Library
Linwood DeLong
Collections Coordinator
University of Winnipeg Library
515 Portage Ave.
Winnipeg, MB, Canada
R3B 2E9
Ph. 204-786-9124
FAX 204-786-1824
e-mail: l.delong_at_uwinnipeg.ca
==========================================
Comments regarding the advantages/disadvantages of compact
shelving. The names of the librarians have been deleted.
1. Even as we speak, we are installing compact shelving (Space
Saver). Our older shelving was not that old (we're acquiring a
large archival collection which requires us to make extra room
for the current holdings by compacting same). We were faced with
the dilemma that our shelves (the wings) did not quite fit the
specs of the newer uprights. To avoid delays, just in case, we
had to order all new shelves--over much hesitancy on my part.
The upside is that we have complete sets of older (but not so
old) shelving to recycle in other parts of the building and to
donate/sell to worthy causes beyond us. Enjoy the
hammer-drilling when the rails go down.
2. When we installed our compact shelving ... we chose a vendor
who was willing to mount our existing older shelving on to Montel
carriages. The savings from doing this were substantial. The
thing that sold us was that we were able to go on a site visit
another university where they had installed identical shelving on
carriages so we could see how well it worked. Our shelving has
worked well so far and it is quite functional (our ranges are six
bays long). Not all vendors however were willing to adapt the
older shelving.
Just a word to the wise, when having an installation like
this—Keep your measuring tape handy and be vigilant. Your old
ranges may be wider than the standard compact shelving ranges.
Our project was extended for an extra month when the installer
deviated from the original plan and miscalculated. I returned
from vacation to find that some of the aisles
were only 2 feet wide. It is much easier to correct the problem
BEFORE the books go back on the shelves.
3. We are very, very happy with our mobile shelving, which was
installed about eight years ago.
4. At ... we house the video collection in compact shelving.
This is essentially vertical drawers similar to those used for
microfilm reels. The drawers face each other, and open into a
common area on a common track, so that if a drawer on the left is
opened the drawer on the right cannot. It is possible that
someone who enters the area after someone else can block someone
from leaving. But such occurrences are exceptionally rare. The
space savings are significant.
5. In one of our buildings all of the journals are on compact
shelving and in
another of our buildings on one floor everything is on compact
shelving. We do
occasionally get questions about how to make the shelving work,
but overall it
seems to work ok. Granted, I don't know how many people couldn't
make it work
and gave up rather than ask.
6. We have a large chunk of our circulating collection in
compact shelving (the LC classification from PS to Z) and we've
never had any complaints. Ours are non-electronic so users have
to actually turn a "crank" to open the stacks for access. In our
previous facility we had our bound periodicals in compact
shelving and, as with the present arrangement, I heard no
complaints. The only mishap we've had was the mangling of a
scarce out of print book which had to be sent to our bindery for
repair. It had fallen off the shelf and got caught in the works.
7. ... University has had the majority of it circulating
collection (about 65%) and all of its bound periodicals
collection on open stack compact shelving for the past eight
years. Initially, there was some reticence about the compact
shelves, but improved signage on how the compact shelves work
alleviated most problems. All of the compact shelving is in the
basement where there are no services, but some nice quiet study
spaces. One of the keys to successful use of compact shelving
is the length of the ranges. We've kept our ranges to not more
than 9 sections in length, 6-7 shelves height, in a pattern of
one stationary unit with 5-movable units and a 46-inch aisle. We
have had few problems over the years and just this summer
expanded the compact shelving units (60 double-face ranges) to
accommodate part of the government publications collections.
8. ... State installed compact shelving in the newly-built
library ... to hold paper periodicals, gov docs, and microfilm.
The shelving is patron-accessible and electric-motor driven. The
safety features are the higher level that counts entries and
exits in an open row before moving the carriage.
In ... , when the library was designed, the future of paper
periodicals seemed unclear. Now it is clear that except for a
minority of journals, electronic is preferred by patrons and
easier for mid-sized and smaller libraries (leaving archiving to
the largest and much better funded state R-1 universities, who
should embrace this role and seek funding for it). Before
spending money for compact shelving, instead join JSTOR, and
purchase one-time the online backfiles of the publishers most
represented in your holdings. Paper journals are a dead medium.
... is beginning to re-evaluate how the very expensive compact
shelves might be used as we follow this advice. Possible
solutions are to move the Z's (including NUC, CBI, and national
bibliographies to compact), perhaps the A's, move all microform,
media (dvd,vhs), and maybe topographical maps onto carriages.
9. ... University moved most of our open stacks collections into
compact shelving when we renovated our library. The building
reopened in 2002 and we have had a very positive response from
users. We do have shelving lock up occasionally but have
portable override devices that we can take to clear any problems.
10. At my last library we worked with Brodart (www.brodart.ca)
to order shelving for our multimedia collection (at the time CDs,
Videos, DVDs). They work with a company that manufactures
shelving that slides over each other specifically for multimedia
items. We were able to consolidate our collection of about 600
items into just one row of this type of shelving. However I left
the organization shortly afterwards so am not sure how it
eventually worked out. You could contact the staff there to
follow up if you are interested (www.ccnm.edu) and you could
speak to the library technician.
11. I was at .... when the addition to the ....Library was
constructed. We put in electronic compact shelving for low use
periodical back runs.
Issues
Students had to look in three places for periodicals, current
issues, high use (5 10 years) and then the back run - very
confusing for students.
There is a learning curve re the sequence of call numbers and how
to shift the shelving. Students need to know how to read call
numbers to ensure that the opened the right range.
Frequently the electronics malfunctioned and so staff had to use
a keypad to restart/reset the electronics. If you can't restart
the electronics, that area is totally inaccessible until a
technician arrives to do the repair.
We had problems when the building settled, sections of the
shelving would not run at all - the floor has to be completely
flat for the shelving to run efficiently.
We also put mechanical shelving in various other places across
the library system and that of course was less high tech and
appealing - but far more reliable.
It is very heavy and floor loading capacity has to be checked.
Compact shelving when properly planned is great and does save
tons of space.
12. We are not currently using compact shelving at ..., but I
would be very interested in learning the results of your survey,
as this has been suggested to us as a possible solution for space
issues in the future. We are not keen on this idea because our
collection supports undergraduate teaching and learning, and we
feel that those materials need to remain easily accessible to our
main users. I have also been told by a design consultant hired
by our university that building or retro-fitting space for
compact shelving is very expensive, and he did not recommend it
for our situation.
13. We have installed compact shelving rather extensively in the
.... Library and I have been involved in other installations
(both electronic and manual systems) in other libraries. For
example, with the last installation of 4 years ago, we actually
had to engage a Toronto engineering company to ascertain whether
we could put it in on an upper floor of a tower. We did, but it
required that the floor be reinforced. What an experience!
14. At Library Contract Services at ....College use compact
shelving. It was already installed for 16mm films and when we
took over the area, we retrofitted and updated the shelf
accessories to accommodate a variety of storage requirements,
other types of Media, DVDs, cassette tapes, boxes, etc. We love
it. It is an old "manual"
system that has held up very well. Bury Media did the retrofit
about 1 1/2 years ago and they were fantastic.
15. Our compact shelving is so old ( 30 years or so) that
details about manufacturer and pricing may be hard to obtain and
likely irrelevant. We have part of our circulating stacks in
compact shelving and as far as I know this has never attracted
negative comments or created problems for staff. The stacks house
the LC range from PS to Z and includes relatively heavily used
sections of our collection. On a few occasions books have fallen
off the shelves and been damaged, but not beyond repair. Also,
one track must be uneven because there is a single section of a
range where the books inch back on the shelf and push the books
on the adjacent shelf forwards - very curious. The stacks are
moved manually by turning a wheel. A recent and unforeseen
situation has arisen when our Muslim students began to separate
the stacks to create a prayer space. This is likely unique to our
University ; I'm sure that most institutions have quiet areas for
devotions outside Library stacks.
16. Please see comments for the questions posed.
type of shelving you used;
SpaceSaver for circa one half of the publically accessible main
collection as well as Government Documents.
what preparations (pre-conditions) were necessary to install it;
As part of new construction; channels, electrical, etc. installed
along with raised flooring. Mostly on grade but floor loading
increased throughout to accommodate weight.
how it has worked out;
Great, very few problems since installation in 2001
any unforeseen problems that emerged;
Yes, old bookends did not fit new shelving and had to be acquired
afterward; unanticipated expense and a maintenance nightmare
until they could be acquired and installed.
the approximate cost (if you are permitted to provide that
information).
Cannot remember exact cost. Likely circa $500,000 to one million.
If you considered compact shelving and felt that there were
reasons for
not using it, I would be interested in that information, too.
Would do the remaining half of the main collection if money were
no obstacle. Construction would be a much more significant
challenge given the fact that the building would need renovations
and is now occupied.
17. I know that the second half of the project here in the ...
Library has a price tag of $100,000+ and we have deferred going
forward with it this year ... Offsite storage issues seem to be
the big concern nowadays: have you seen the report from CARL,
'Print repository initiatives at Canadian University Libraries:
An Overview,'
http://www.carl-abrc.ca/projects/preservation/pdf/print_repos_overview.pdf
or the OCLC Report 'Library Storage facilities and the future of
print collections in North America,'
http://www.oclc.org/programs/publications/reports/2007-01.pdf
both of which seem to point the way for most of the research
libraries.
18. The ..... library on in San Diego has compact
shelving. My only experience with it was there, but they have had
it for
several years and have a lot of users - http://library.nu.edu/
19. We purchased compact shelving in 2003 when we moved to a new
building. We are still very happy with it. We went from a 2
floor library to one floor and it helped immensely. I have 2
separate units, one with 4 moving shelving units, one fixed on
each side and a second unit with 2 moving units which can be
added to if needed. The only problems to consider is the extra
weight once the units are floor - floor bearing weight needs to
be considered. Also, the units run on rails under the floor.
Our floor ramps up over the rails and down the other side.
People who do not realize the additional height, often trip on
the floor. Another item is to make certain nothing gets dropped
on the floor between the units which will affect their operation.
It does have safety bar stopping.
The units purchased are called Spacesaver, located 266 King St E,
Toronto 1-800-544-3679. We purchased through Infofile systems in
Grimsby, Ontario, www.infofile.ca who set it up for us. It is
electric with a battery pack backup. Unfortunately I was not told
the cost, but I am certain the price has increased. We got rid
of 12 filing cabinets which filled less than half the filing
space on one side of a moving unit. It also contains our Reserve
collection which took up 6, 60 inch wide 5 shelf high units (one
side of a moving unit). Just remember to use it for collection
materials that do not see constant use.
Received on Thu Feb 26 2009 - 03:01:04 EST