High-density Storage Facility Research Articles

Moving a Unique Collection to Storage: Improving Access Now and Later

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library collected college and university publications (the C-Collection) for several decades without allocating the resources to catalog them. A project to make these items discoverable by patrons was initiated, and tens of thousands of items were added to the online catalog. These items were physically stabilized and transferred to the library’s high-density storage facility. A portion of the collection was also digitized, providing electronic access. Although circulation trended downward, there was no clear indication that materials were less accessible in high-density storage, and new items were discovered that had not previously circulated. Digital surrogates of library material clearly allowed the library to reach a much larger audience, and ideal storage conditions to preserve physical materials long-term combined with electronically available copies appear to be an ideal means for providing greater access while preserving content.

Beyond the usual suspects: A case study in choosing an inventory control system

When the University of Oklahoma Libraries began planning a new high-density storage facility, we decided to look beyond the companies that had provided products specifically for libraries. We turned to records management companies, seeking out products used in the finance, insurance, healthcare, and legal industries. This column outlines our requirements and specifications, selection and implementation processes, and our current use of the software.

Inside-Out and Outside-In: A Holistic Approach to Metadata Assessment for an Off-Site Storage Collection

ABSTRACT As more libraries rely on remote storage facilities to preserve print collections, this presents challenges for resource discovery and access. Since off-site storage facilities often have no open shelves or public access, increased importance is placed on metadata to connect users to resources. At the University of Toronto Libraries (UTL), we conducted a metadata assessment of the serials collection located in its Downsview high-density storage facility. Using quantitative and qualitative methods based on the assessment metrics proposed by Bruce and Hillmann (2004) we gained a holistic view of the quality and effectiveness of the metadata for the Downsview serials collection. The study also revealed many of the challenges associated with making off-site resources discoverable and accessible in online systems.

Drafting Recommendations for a Shared Statewide High-Density Storage Facility: Experiences with the State University Libraries of Florida Proposal

In August 2007, an $11.2 million proposal for a shared statewide high-density storage facility was submitted to the Board of Governors, the governing body of the State University System in Florida. The project was subsequently approved at a slightly lower level and funding was delayed until 2010/2011. The experiences of coordinating data collection for each of the 11 state university libraries, retaining a consultant and researching viable models, and drafting a final proposal is summarized for others considering a similar project. Suggestions of ways to avoid some of the pitfalls encountered in this project are also included.

Lost is Found

A study conducted at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Library examines data from unfilled ILL requests to determine the status of materials housed in the Main Bookstacks of the library's collection. This study follows the research that was started in the original study conducted in 2002, “Needles in a Haystack: Using Interlibrary Loan Data to Identify Materials Missing from a Library's Collection.” The results of the second study indicate that the use of a high-density storage facility had a positive impact on the retrieval rate of ILL materials from the Main Bookstacks. It also indicated that fill rates increased when over 770,000 items were removed from the Main Book-stacks resulting in improved shelving conditions for the library's collection.

Collaborative Collection Management in a High-density Storage Facility

This case study reviews selected collection management issues encountered in a collaboratively managed high-density remote storage facility. In 2000, four Colorado institutions—the University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of Colorado at Denver, the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and the University of Denver—opened a shared high-density storage facility. This mix of public and private institutions agreed to collaborative collection management, including a nonduplication policy and the granting of direct access to stored materials for nonparticipating institutions through a statewide union catalog. Ownership of stored materials, selection of items for storage, operational management, and online and physical access proved to be challenging policy issues requiring committees, patience, and compromise to resolve.

The Harvard Model and the Rise of Shared Storage Facilities

Abstract In recent years the design of depositories and the reasons for building them have changed. Harvard piloted the modern high-density storage facility in the mid-1980s. Since then the “Harvard Model” has become the design of choice for libraries planning the construction of storage facilities. High-density storage is now often included in the planning for a new library building. As budgets have decreased or become stagnant, libraries have turned to consortial relationships and partnerships in order to build and operate off-site depositories. Three examples are examined.

The helical-scan magnetic tape recorder as a digital communication channel

The properties of a magnetic tape recorder are viewed in terms of a digital magnetic recording/playback channel which exhibits fading (reduction of playback-signal level) and nonlinear behavior. A method is presented whereby channel nonlinearity may be quantified in a format useful for signal and receiver design. Measurements show this nonlinearity to be relatively small for symmetric two-level signals. Deep fades (dropouts) are the most significant source of errors in digital tape recordings. Fading is considered as multiplicative noise on an essentially linear channel, and measurements are made of the fade probability distribution and an associated additional time dispersion. While the fading process appears to occur relatively slowly (compared with the bit period), neither its probability distribution nor its associated dispersion encourage the use of a receiver which is able to adapt to the changing channel characteristics. Finally an attempt is made to ascribe the fading process to repeatable variations in head-tape separation, and a corresponding probability distribution for this separation is obtained. A helical-scan video recorder was used throughout the measurements because of its low cost and its potential as a high-density storage facility.