As the role of print collections in academic libraries moves from monograph storage to a method for engaging users, the browsability and accessibility of print collections are becoming increasingly important. One factor that affects the ability to comfortably browse collections is the height at which the books are stored. This paper examines the…

Patrons' information consumption behaviors of print materials are influenced by their content and tangible characteristics. This quantitative study incorporates several content-based factors widely adopted in collection management practices as well as two physical dimension-related factors, including book size and number of pages, and applies a…

An automated retrieval system, adapted from a commercial warehouse application, has been installed at Georgia Southern University and has been well accepted by patrons and library personnel due to its reliability, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and responsiveness. (Contains 1 figure.)

In the summer of 2004, Georgia Southern University began a library construction project that was to last 4 years. An important aspect was the installation of an Automated Retrieval System (ARC) to house a substantial portion of the library collections so that more space could be available for students, faculty, and the services to meet their…

This document explores the transition from an analog to a digital environment for knowledge access, preservation, and reconstitution, and the implications of this transition for managing research collections. The volume comprises three reports. The first, "Can a New Research Library be All-Digital?" by Lisa Spiro and Geneva Henry,…

An earlier model which proposed to determine the optimum number of shelves to minimize shelving cost of a book collection does not always yield optimal value. Underlying assumptions from this earlier model, which aren't always practical, are discussed, and algorithms providing a better solution for the same problem are presented. (Author)

Compact book storage and the economies and costs of compact book shelving are considered. (NH)

What the machine and the computer have done to help solve the book storage problem are studied and evaluated. The various systems fall into two categories: (1) mechanized with power assist and (2) mechanized and/or computerized. (NH)

You have got boxes filled with glue sticks, 32 calculators, apple juice, Band-Aids and that gallon of blue glitter you know will come in handy someday. It's all stuff you need, but when you are getting ready for the new year, you just wish you could hire a professional organizer to take care of it all for you. Donna Smallin is an organizational…

The optimal storage of books by size in libraries is considered in this paper. It is shown that for a given collection of books of various sizes, the optimum number of shelf heights to use can be determined by finding the shortest path in an equivalent network. Applications of this model to inventory control, assortment and packaging problems are…

Most library buildings were built thirty or more years ago. As a result libraries are sharing a common situation. There is little or no room to add more books onto the shelves, and there are odd spaces throughout the stacks which are not being used. Jackson Library, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, faced this challenge and grew space by…

Only the imaginative combination of space utilization and collection organization will help solve the problems of the most efficient and effective ways to handle the storage of large masses of little-used books. (NH)

Most campuses have no real estate to spare for the purpose of housing yet more printed books in their general libraries. Some solutions to this problem entails putting lesser printed materials in less-costly storage facilities; or engaging in cooperative archiving agreements that retain one copy of a title in one of the partner's active stacks so…

Some avenues of relief to the book space problem via in-house practices are presented in this paper, all of which have been attempted in some library at some time, but they are only stop-gap measures. The only permanent solution is construction of additional space. (NH)

A network model is developed to determine the optimum number of shelf heights to use which will minimize the shelving cost for a given collection of books. (Author)