Industrial Storage Technology Applied to Library Requirements
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb047703 |
| Published date | 01 April 1987 |
| Pages | 13-22 |
| Date | 01 April 1987 |
| Author | John Kountz |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Industrial Storage Technology Applied
to Library Requirements
John Kountz
Automated material-handling techniques
have been successfully applied in industry
for over a decade. The techniques and
systems developed to automate warehouse
operations directly apply to libraries.
The problem of storing a growing mass of
little used but "valuable" materials can be
resolved by new material handling strategies,
which will also generate improved library
services. The characteristics of a miniload
automated storage and retrieval system are
described, and formulas are presented for
calculating the size of system needed by a
library. Also included are "rule-of-thumb"
prices for calculating the approximate
costs of a system of a specific size.
The cost of building a new library is significant.
Sooner or later, adding just one more book could
provoke such an expense. The California State
University has nineteen campuses, each with its
own library. The collections of those libraries
range from 200,000 to 800,000 volumes. Adding
the next book to each of these libraries could be
costly indeed! Fortunately, the next book syndrome
won't occur at all nineteen libraries at once. How-
ever, each of the nineteen libraries eventually will
need the ability to house larger collections.
To reduce the present and future costs of
housing more books, several alternative storage
approaches have been rigorously studied. Among
these were storage facilities on and off campus,
shared storage facilities, compact shelving techniques
in existing libraries, weeding, and industrial material-
handling techniques. As might be expected, those
alternatives peculiar to libraries replicated, in one
way or another, the traditional bookstack. Weeding
the collection, while initially attractive, only provides
a "stay of execution" until the "next" book arrives;
weeding an academic collection also has the effect
of evoking the politics of academia, which can
be both grotesque and counterproductive. In contrast,
the industrial techniques broke with traditional
perceptions and, in so doing, opened doors to the
provision of services and service levels unknown,
and impossible, with the classic open bookstack.
The Industrial Storage Technology Option
The industrial storage technology described
here is less expensive than adding new space, by
Kountz is Associate Director, Library Affairs,
Chancellor's Office, California State University,
Long Beach, CA.
ISSUE 20 13
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