REMOTE STORAGE FACILITIES:

AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

O'Connor is assistant dean of University Libraries, Bierce Library, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio.

P h y l l i s O ' C o n n o r

INTRODUCTION

Because of severe space limitations librarians are with increasing frequency finding themselves in a posi- tion for which they are not prepared--that of planning a remote storage facility to house their overflow of library materials. When one begins to think about the many decisions that must be made in order to imple- ment a successful storage program, he or she can be easily daunted. No decision is easy to make because there are economic, political, and service implications surrounding nearly every issue associated with a remote storage program. This bibliography is designed for the library staff that finds itself in the position of planning for and implementing such a program.

Since few librarians ever have the opportunity to build a new library building, most are unprepared to make the many decisions that face them in planning any kind of new construction. Just determining where the building should be is a difficult first step. In the case of an academic library, the faculty and students will likely rebel against the mere suggestion of storage, and insist that if material has to be removed from the main stacks it must remain on campus, within walking distance. They usually want open stacks and long service hours. Construction costs, however, are generally expected to be lower when the facility is a warehouse-type building, built in a rural area off campus. The library must weigh political pressures against economic ones. After the first hard step come many other difficult ones. Architects must be hired, building designs discussed, and blueprints approved.

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Climate control, security, communications/data capa- bilities, equipment, and furnishings must be planned for. The many options available for just one furnishing, library shelving, are mind-boggling: industrial shelving, standard shelving, compact shelving, and moveable shelving systems all come in different heights, widths, and depths. The kind of shelving that is chosen will be the result of cost considerations, the services that the facility will offer, and the material that is to be stored on that shelving.

Selecting which materials to store is one of the most important decisions the library staff will make. The success of the storage program will be jeopardized if materials are frequently recalled from storage for circulation. Processing and transportation costs associat- ed with a circulation from storage drastically drive up the per transaction cost. In addition, delays that users experience when the items they need cannot be supplied immediately cause public relation problems. Not surprisingly, selection criteria vary greatly between libraries. Some base their criteria solely on use, some solely on age; most employ some combination of the two. Preservation and security of the collection are also often considerations. There are storage-selection programs that focus on serial titles, on duplicates, and on particular subject areas. Who does the selection varies as well. Many people are often involved, from student employees or stack managers who do the initial marking of volumes to be stored, to professional bibliographers and teaching faculty who review each individual title.

Implementing the remote storage program involves making decisions about staffing, budgeting, and services. Materials must be moved and catalog records changed. Procedures for quickly and efficiently retriev- ing materials from the facility must be developed.

The materials in this bibliography range from broad, philosophical overviews of collection sharing to discussions of such nitty gritty details as how many 10" books fit into a 14" square storage box. They include complex mathematical formulas used to deter- mine growth patterns and simple case studies. Entries have been divided into three categories: "Planning the Storage Facility," "Selecting Material for Storage," and "Implementing the Storage Program." However, many of the books and articles, particularly the case studies, discuss more than one aspect of remote storage.

Generally, the materials were published since 1980 because that seems to be about the time remote storage began to be widely discussed as a solution for space problems in libraries. In order to provide the reader with some background information, though, "classic" studies by Ash, Ellsworth, Fussler, Harrar, and Kent have also been included. Other books and articles are included because they are representative of the literature

on remote storage, focusing on building, selection, and service issues. Most of the entries are concerned with academic libraries, probably because they tend to outgrow their buildings more quickly than do public libraries, with their generally more liberal weeding practices.

When the entry's bibliography is substantial, that is noted in the annotation. The inclusion of an index is also noted.

T H E C L A S S I C STUDIES

Ash, Lee. "Selection of Materials for Storage: Policies and Problems." In Yale's Selective Book Retirement Program, 7-16. Hamden, CT: Archon Books, 1963.

Ash describes the efforts of librarians at Yale University to develop a remote storage facility and recounts the problems they faced during this process. The first part of the chapter examines weeding policies, while the second examines weeding problems. General policies for the "Selective Book Retirement Program," which specified what types of materials would be assigned to storage and which would not, were imple- mented in 1959. Writing several years later, Ash points out that these general policies were easier to develop than the more specific ones that were developed for particular subject fields where cross subject interests of faculty make clear guidelines difficult. In fact, it proved easier to recommend specific titles for removal than to decide on specific groups or types of materials for removal. Because the librarians could not define groups of materials within subject areas for storage purposes, they looked at removing entire collections in certain subject areas to storage. When this caused too much dissension with the faculty, the library returned to making title-by-title decisions. The time required to make title-by-title decisions caused the librarians to enlist the help of university faculty members. (This proved helpful even though the teaching faculty demonstrated inadequate training in the bibliography of their fields.) Even though this is an older work, it is still relevant, given that Yale was one of the first universities in the United States to open a remote storage facility. Extensive appendixes and charts are included.

Ellsworth, Ralph E. Economics of Book Storage in College and University Libraries. Metuchen, NJ: Association of Research Libraries, 1969.

This classic work should be reviewed from cover to cover by remote storage facility planners because it discusses all of the major issues connected with the cost of book storage. Ellsworth's study attempts to answer two questions: Is it economical to relegate

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low-use materials to storage? Is cost the only factor a university should consider in adopting a storage program?

Each long chapter is conveniently summarized, and the chapters are organized so that the reader can move quickly through the text to specific topics. The first two chapters are about the background and history of book storage. They are very readable and remind the modern librarian and administrator that space problems have plagued libraries for a long time. These chapters are followed by others on various storage systems, applications of the result of Ellsworth's study, and an extensive review of cost studies. The last two chapters are devoted solely to the cost of book storage. The text is both detailed and technical, but the many tables make the study results clear and understandable at a glance. The bibliography is extensive and serves as a valuable resource for historical review.

Fussier, Herman H. "The Economics of Book Hous- ing." In Patterns in the Use of Books in Large Research Libraries, 133-140. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969.

In his now-classic study, Fussier bases his recom- mendations on the assumption that the cost of housing a large book collection will be lower if some of that collection is placed in compact storage. Fussier studies the problem of cost variations with time, of scheduling transfers of materials to and from storage, of costs of paging and messenger services, and of circulation from storage. Most of his conclusions are based on statistical analyses, the results of which are summarized in a variety of tables. While the cost figures are outdated, Fussler's formulas are still much used by planners, and his philosophy of book storage is the basis of today's thought in that area. The book includes a detailed index.

Harrar, Helen Joanne. "Cooperative Storage Warehous- es." Ph.D. diss., Rutgers University, 1962.

This dissertation is the only book-length study completely devoted to library storage warehouses. Following the standard research format, Harrar defines the problem as the overcrowding of libraries, and her definitions of the problem and its components are helpful to the novice planner. The purpose of Harrar's study is to determine the effectiveness of several types of storage warehouses to include:

a central facility owned and operated by a number of participating libraries,

a consolidated warehouse owned and supported by a group of cooperating libraries, which com- pletely consolidate their collections, or

a consolidated warehouse owned and supported by a group of participating libraries, which merge the collection and disposes of duplicate materials.

Chapter two of the dissertation is a thorough, interest- ing history of the development of storage warehouses in the United States. Unlike Fussler and Metcalf, Harrar concludes that storage warehouses are not an economical alternative to overcrowding. While one might question Harrar's conclusions, the author's history of remote storage and the bibliography she provides make these sections worth a careful perusal.

Kent, Allen. "Circulation and In-House Use of Books." In The Use of Library Materials: The University of Pittsburgh Study, 9-56. New York: Marcel Dekker, 1979.

This is a classic study on the use of library materials in an academic library. Since it is a compre- hensive study, it is not surprising that storage of materials is addressed. In the last portion of this chapter, the portion dealing with storage decisions, the reader is told that these decisions should be based on "present book stock, rate of acquiring new stock, maximum shelf space for the circulating collection, and the user satisfaction created by having desired items in primary storage." (p.51) As if to clarify this, the reader is given a complicated mathematical formula to illustrate the textual statement. This formula is not particularly helpful and, in fact, may not be entirely reliable in that the only measure offered for patron satisfaction is the number of books recalled from storage. The dissatisfaction patrons feel at not gaining immediate access to library materials cannot be accu- rately measured and is not discussed. While some formulas in this chapter are difficult to comprehend, charts and graphs make growth patterns for storage easy to understand and predict. Other discussions that may interest the librarian facing remote storage deci- sions include the circulation of foreign language items and the frequency of circulation by publication date. The index is awkward to use.

PLANNING THE STORAGE FACILITY

Cooper, Michael D. "A Cost Comparison of Alterna- tive Book Storage Strategies." Library Quarterly 59:3 (1989): 239-260.

Cooper examines the costs of four storage alterna- tives: open-stack facilities, compact open stack facili- ties, local storage, and regional storage facilities. In addition to construction costs, the author considers selection costs, processing costs at the local library, transportation costs, processing costs at the storage

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facility, and circulation costs. Not surprisingly, con- struction costs for an open stack facility are the high- est--$15.84 per volume compared to $2.78 per volume for closed stack storage construction costs. The author is concerned, however, that administrators too often look only at this construction cost figure and not at other costs. He proves that all other costs are highest for a regional storage facility, where one circulation can cost almost $10 for staff time and transportation. Many intriguing tables and charts are included for quick and easy comparisons. The author concludes that a compact open stack facility located on-campus is the most cost-effective storage facility. Processing costs are least expensive, and circulation costs are the same as for a standard library facility. When one factors in the delays that patrons must face when they ask for materials from off-campus facilities, the on-campus alternative looks even more appealing. Cooper clearly proves that administrators should study more than just construction costs when considering storage alterna- tives, and he suggests that librarians employ a hierarchy of storage facilities whenever possible, putting only the most infrequentlyused materials in storage off-campus.

Cooper, Michael D. "The Sensitivity of Book Storage Strategy Decisions to Alternative Cost Assumptions." Library Quarterly 61:4 (1991): 414-428.

In a follow-up to his 1989 study of the costs of four library storage alternatives, Cooper takes a closer look at how changes in circulation costs and construc- tion costs affect the choices about alternative storage options. This study omits the data pertaining to user circulation costs and user delay costs that his 1989 includes. Examining only the "base data"--construction costs, processing costs, and circulation costs to the library--Cooper reaffirms that the least expensive storage alternative is for a library to put compact open- stack shelving in existing ground-level space on campus. Cooper concludes that circulation costs should dominate the decision of what kind of book storage alternative to build, and that the decision about where a particular item is shelved should be strongly influ- enced by the potential circulation of that item. Cooper considers a situation in this study that he did not include in his previous study: that of the item that never circulates. The least expensive place to store that item is in the remote, regional, closed-stack facility.

Fraley, Ruth A., and Carol Lee Anderson. "Alterna- tives for a Collection-Space Dilemma." In Library Space Planning: How to Access, Allocate, and Reorga- nize Collections, Resources, and Physical Facilities, 30-40. New York: Neal-Schuman, 1985.

In this chapter the authors discuss various ways that the space planner can house collections. The first

section discusses compact shelving, a space shelving alternative often employed in off-site storage facilities. They point out that although compact shelving prohibits browsing, it allows 50 percent more books to be shelved in the same area as traditional library shelving. In the section on off-site storage, Fraley and Anderson point out that the greatest advantage of off-site storage is the addition of growth space for the collection. Even though the patron is inconvenienced by the time that it takes to retrieve materials from storage and the library must pay more per circulation for items stored elsewhere, they say that the inconvenience and expense are offset by the greater accessibility to the materials not in storage. The stacks can be kept in better order and the collection in better repair when overcrowding is alleviated. Shelving options for storage facilities are explored. The advantages and disadvantages of shelving by size, fore-edge shelving, double-book shelving, and warehouse shelving are discussed frankly and realisti- cally. A selected bibliography and index are provided.

Fraley, Ruth A., and Carol Lee Anderson. "The Space Crunch: Alternatives." In Library Space Planning: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Assessing, Allocating and Reorganizing Collections, Resources and Facilities, 53- 74. New York: Neal-Schuman, 1990.

This chapter examines alternatives to traditional housing methods, includingcompact shelving, convert- ing to microformat, shelving by size, weeding, optical disk storage, and resource sharing in addition to a brief look at off-site storage. Although the suggested guide- lines for storage are obvious, some of the warnings against designing an overly simplified staff work area in the remote facility should be heeded. Fraley and Anderson warn the reader that building plans should include a copy machine (with wiring for additional ones since use is difficult to predict), telephone lines (includ- ing one for a fax machine), cable connection to the campus library's online catalog and circulation system, intercom capabilities between the work room and the storage area, and the appropriate wiring and equipment on which to run an inventory program. They also suggest that an intrusion security system is a sound investment. They observe that, even though the facility may be designed for minimum staffing at the onset, growth and demand may require increased staffing at a later time; space should be provided in case that happens.

Fuhlrott, Rolf. "Cooperative Storage: Lightening the Burden of Libraries." Libri 30 (December 1980): 321- 337.

This report is a result of a German committee's study of space problems of libraries in Europe and the United States. It is the most complete historical study

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available, and the committee recommendations are thoughtful and well supported. After a discussion of space problems and alternatives, the report discusses solutions to space problems in several libraries in France, England, and the United States. It also exam- ines current space problems in Russian, German, and Norwegian libraries. The report recommends no "model" architectural design, nor does it propose any specific relegation guidelines. But it discusses some possible strategies to be used in making decisions in both of these areas. The last section of the report examines the advantages of and objections to regional storage facilities. The authors conclude that regional storage facilities are the best way to cope with over- crowding in libraries, especially if electronic data processing is used for coordinated acquisitions and storage retrieval programs.

Gorman, Michael. "Moveable Compact Shelving: The Current Answer." Library Hi Tech 5:4, consecutive issue no. 20 (Winter 1987): 23-26.

The author concludes that in-house storage, with compact, moveable shelving, is the only feasible answer to the space problems that today's libraries are facing. In reaching this conclusion, he dismisses regional storage facilities as a viable option. Gorman says that the difficulties of remote storage increase as the distance from the main library building increases, creating difficulties in communication and transporta- tion. He says that the hidden costs of maintenance and inconvenience a remote facility commands outweigh the more inexpensive start-up costs of such a facility. Pointing out that most libraries fall back on a hit-or-miss method of determining what materials are sent to storage, he says that the items sent to remote storage will be demanded and this demand will make remote facilities economically impractical. He points out that all mechanisms of retrieval are complicated, expensive, time-consuming, and unreliable. He con- eludes that any reasonable person will avoid the "hazard" of remote storage facilities. His article should be of interest to regional facility planners who will have to answer patrons with objections similar to Gorman's.

Holt, Raymond. Planning Library Buildings and Facilities. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1989.

This is a modern, complete, how-to manual that covers all stages of planning and building library facilities in the 1990s. While it does not specifically address remote storage facilities, it is the best summary of the building process available. Chapter one outlines the necessary steps, from needs assessment to post-oc- cupancy evaluation. The chapters that follow proceed chronologically through the building process, emphasiz- ing planning and communication. Particularly interest-

ing chapters include those entitled "Selecting the Library Consultant and the Design Professionals" and "Occupying the Building." The book is written for librarians who are in charge of planning and overseeing the building of a new library facility. Holt assumes that librarians are novices at the "architectural game"; as a result, his book covers every step in detail. Valuable, practical appendixes include "Outline for a Building Program" and "Questions to Accompany a Request for Qualifications or a Proposal for Architectural Services." The thirty-five figures contain suggested designs for all elements of the building, from the reference desk to the window design (unfortunately, pages that include figures are unnumbered). The bibliography is divided by subject, and the index is complete and helpful.

Kennedy, James, and Gloria Stockton, eds. The Great Divide: Challenges in Remote Storage. Chicago: American Library Association, 1991.

This is the proceedings of a 1987 preconference on remote storage facilities, sponsored by Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA). The conference focused on implementing a remote storage program, addressing topics such as politics, selection of materials, designing the facility, and governance issues. The proceedings are divided into three sections: "Implementing the Decision for Remote Storage, .... The Building Program," and "Moving and Operational Considerations." The conference speakers are all recognized experts on remote storage and access. Their presentations are informative, interesting, full of practical advice, and very readable. In his introduc- tion, Kennedy says, "This volume, mirroring the speakers' involvement with all levels oft emote storage facilities planning and development, will prove to be useful preliminary reading for all persons considering using remote storage to solve library overcrowding." (p.iv) A clear, concise index is included.

Kountz, John. "Industrial Storage Technology Applied to Library Requirements." Library Hi Tech 5:4, consecutive issue no. 20 (Winter 1987): 13-22.

This article closely examines an Automated Storage/Retrieval System (AS/RS) that solves the problem of handling materials in the remote storage facility and, according to the author, improves library services. A couple of simple tables make clear cost comparisons per square foot and per book stored between open stack, moving aisle shelving and industri- al shelving. The charts show that industrial shelving is by far the least expensive space-saving method. But the problem with industrial storage is that it often makes retrieval cumbersome and inefficient, and ineffective retrieval methods are expensive in terms of labor and public relations. The author recommends

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a miniload AS/RS for libraries after reviewing the background of several library shelving methods. A practical chart showing different formats of library materials and how many of each format can fit into storage bins of various sizes is provided.

Metcalf, Keyes D. "The Alternatives to a New Library Building." InPlanning Academic and Research Library Buildings, 22-36. Chicago:American Library Associa- tion, 1986.

After summarizing the traditional problems associated with decentralized library collections and cautioning library administrators to look at all alterna- tives to remote storage, Metcalf moves to a discussion of cooperative storage facilities. He stresses planning for future growth of collections housed in remote facilities, suggesting that within the next decade larger university libraries will have 50 percent of their collection stored in a "secondary-access facility." He urges libraries to develop storage facilities jointly when possible, pointing out the administrative advantages of joint management, to include sharing the cost of transportation to and from the facility and eliminating duplication among the items placed in storage. Included in this chapter is a floor plan of Princeton University's storage warehouse. Of particular interest is the fact that the floor plan includes the exact measurements and placement of Princeton's shelving and the fact that nearly half of that shelving is 24" deep in order to accommodate oversized materials.

Swain, Donald C. "Regional Library Planning for Northern Campuses of the University of California." In Running Out of Space-- What Are the Alternatives ? Ed. by Gloria Novak, 79-83. Chicago: American Library Association, 1987.

The first half of this essay discusses the planning that preceded the building of the regional storage facility. The planning committee compiled a list often assumptions to guide their thinking during the planning process, including cooperation, fairness, sharing, and an understanding that the collection in the facility must serve the various campuses involved. The second half of the essay lists the lessons Swain and his colleagues learned from the experience of planning for regional cooperative efforts:

Regional planning will not solve all of every library's space problems;

Faculty, though skeptical at first, learn to accept the fact that th~eir library does not need to own everything that they need for their research so long as they can get needed materials quickly;

Regional planning increases intercampus coopera- tion in other areas;

Regional librarY planning and policy making should not be left to librarians alone and librarians need to work with their campus administrators so that the planning can be fit into a wider campus- wide framework.

Thompson, Godfrey. "Primary Brief." In Planning and Design of Library Buildings, 33-47. London: Butter- worth Architecture, 1989.

This chapter is a summary of the contents of the book--a complete how-to guide for the librarian who is planning to build a library building. The summary is, in itself, valuable as a planning guide. It discusses the relationship between librarians and architects in an effort to make sure that there are not misunderstandings between the two. Thompson stresses the importance of a "Statement of Aims" written by the librarian for the architect and designed to help develop a plan for a building that is clear to both parties. He also says that a detailed statement of "Contents to be Accommo- dated" is essential for present and future planning. In this section, cooperative and remote storage is ad- dressed. The "Conditions of Access" and "Activities of Users" for the materials and people in the new building must be made clear to the architect and to the planners. An appended checklist of facilities to be considered lists details that may otherwisebe forgotten.

SELECTING MATERIALS FOR STORAGE

Anderson, Paul M. A Study of Collection Use at the University of Cincinnati Central Library. Research Report 143. Cincinnati, OH: Dialog, 1983. ERIC, ED 241 069.

This report summarizes a use study designed to determine which materials would be housed in a remote storage facility. The study was conducted on serials and monographs and used circulation data collected from both in-house and out-of-library transactions. Anderson concludes that most user demands can be met if materials that have circulated in the previous six-year period remain housed in the main collection. Not surprisingly, Anderson finds that materials with recent imprint dates are used more frequently than those with older imprint dates and that scientists and social scientists have a stronger bias towards newer materials than do researchers in the humanities. The report discusses the methodology of the study at length, and summarizes more well-known methodologies from Kent, Fussier, and others. Lengthy appendixes provide

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detailed tables in the distribution of usage by LC classification.

Benedict, Marjorie A., Michael Knee, and Mina B. LaCroix. "Finding Space for Periodicals: Weeding, Storage and Microform Conversion." Collection Management 12:3-4 (1990): 145-154.

The authors, three bibliographers from the University of Albany, discuss the options they investi- gated in their attempt to reconcile space limitations and collection development requirements. They considered four options for reducing the overcrowding of their bound periodical collection: optimal use of present space, control of future growth, selective replacement of bound volumes with microforms, and removal for discard or storage.

This review focuses on the storage option. The authors conclude that as curricula and faculty

research needs change, some periodical titles are not as useful as they once were. They reviewed these less relevant titles, beginning with the titles housed in an on-site compact storage area, looking for titles that could be sent to their regional deposit center. They filled the on-site space vacated by these titles with runs from the overcrowded periodical sections.

The authors point out that one advantage of storage over microfilming is that the material is retained in its original format. Another advantage appears to be that storage is less expensive than microfilming. However, this article lists several practical points that bibliogra- phers should consider when they review periodical backfiles for possible relegation to storage or micro- filming. Among these points are dates of holdings, length of run and current status of the title, impact on public and technical library staff, and availability of a title through interlibrary loan.

Buckland, Michael K. "Little-Used Duplicates, Cooper- ative Collection Development, and Storage." Collection Management 13:4 (1990): 39-52.

In his introduction, Buckland notes that little-used titles are often mentioned in discussions of cooperative storage projects, but that the issue is independent of any particular storage solution. He reasons that if a library relegates little-used material to storage as an economy measure, there is little justification for relegating multiple copies. He says that if the demand is sufficient to warrant multiple copies of a title, then none of them should be sent to storage. If the expected future demand is low enough to warrant the title's being sent to storage, then there should be no need for multiple copies at all. He suggests that cooperative storage facility members develop a "last copy" scheme. He discusses other interesting issues of cooperative storage and eventually points out that differential

treatment of little-used materials based on who original- ly paid for them cannot be justified in terms of service or economy. Buckland addresses eleven arguments against the relegation of little-used duplicates. Three of these arguments are

that there will be a general increase in popularity of many titles due to online catalogs and public access to bibliographic utilities,

that duplicate titles are inherently more likely to be used since multiple copies were deemed necessary when the title was purchased, and

that a library's prestige is often judged by the number of volumes that it holds.

Buckland's article will interest any library planning for a remote storage facility, and it provides essential background discussion for libraries planning a coopera- tive facility.

Flynn, Roger. "University of Pittsburgh Study of Journal Usage: A Summary Report." Serials Librarian 4 (Fall 1979): 25-33.

The author clearly and concisely summarizes the much-cited University of Pittsburgh study, placing emphasis on two of Allen Kent's major conclusions: I) that a small percentage of titles account for the greatest proportion of usage and 2) that recently published materials account for most usage. Flynn summarizes in ten easy-to-read tables the essence of the Pittsburgh study's findings about periodicals usage. He points out that periodicals' usage data can aid the librarian in making three major decisions: the decision to acquire a new title or not, the decision to cancel a current title or not, and the decision to relegate older volumes to another storage area. He points out that in regard to storage decisions, 60 percent of the usage was from volumes five-years old or less, and 90 percent of the usage was from volumes fifteen-years old or less. The author concludes with a brief but thought-pro- voking discussion of subjective judgments of value that librarians make. He says that "the blend of qualitative and quantitative judgments is often preferable to either method used independently." (p.32) It is rare and refreshing that a librarian admits to making such subjective j udgments.

Gyeszly, Suzanne D., Marifran Bustion, and Jane Treadwell. "Infrequently Used Serials: A Space Utilization Project." Collection Management 12:1 (1990): 109-123.

This article describes Texas A&M University's criteria for selecting materials for storage and that

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university's physical move of 53,000 volumes to a storage facility. A committee composed mostly of collection development librarians recommended that low-use serials be stored. Titles with long backruns were targeted. The reasoning of this committee is thought provoking. They point out that serials records take less time per volume to convert than monographic titles since one record change can account for the change in location of scores of pieces. Ceased or canceled titles were moved if Texas A&M's collection development policy stated that retrospective materials are rarely used in that subject area. Journals like Current History with outdated subject matter were also moved to storage, along with duplicate titles and superseded annuals. Cut-off dates were determined by titles and by subject matter. The authors recommend that online records be updated daily as titles are actually moved to storage. The storage facility planner may be interested to note that the average width of the volumes moved was two inches. This practical, informative article concludes with several suggestions for librarians planning a move, including consulting the preservation librarian, conducting a serials use study before the move, and using volunteers for the actual move to cut down on moving costs.

Line, Maurice. "National Repository Planning." InternationalLibrary Review 20 (July 1983): 309-319.

Although this article focuses on national reposito- ries, its sections on material relegation and on evaluat- ing the performance of storage facilities have applica- tions to shared regional storage facilities. Line suggests three categories for guiding the storage planner's decision to relegate materials:

1) items of intrinsic value,

2) items that are not currently used but that may be wanted in the future, and

3) items that are representative publications of the past.

This philosophy sheds a different light on the usual guidelines that only consider usage, publication dates, and subject matter. This article is unique because it includes criteria by which the effectiveness of storage facilities should be judged. The facility must provide accessibility, be able to handle demand for information and distribution of documents, provide good storage conditions, be well managed, and be easy for the contributing libraries to use. The facility must also have the confidence of the librarians it serves and be able to cooperate with other libraries effectively.

Lougee, Wendy P. "Remote Storage Comes of Age: Storage Collection Management at the University of Michigan." Collection Management 16:2 (1992): 93- 107.

After noting in her introduction that the literature of collection growth and management includes little about remote storage, Lougee describes the process of creating a storage collection at the University of Michigan, hoping that the lessons learned there will serve other libraries that are developing their own storage strategies. During her discussion, an array of collection management issues that are surfacing because of storage programs are investigated. The selection criteria for the "first wave" of materials to be relegated to storage was a title-by-title analysis of materials that fit specific criteria. These criteria were generally concerned with the age of the material, not its usage. The "second wave" of materials was selected on the basis of age and use. Three charts clearly show the percentage of the studied collection, by imprint date, that circulated since 1964, 1975, and 1980. The analysis showed that over nineteen percent of the titles published between 1950 and 1969 had not circulated since 1975. The 150,000 titles that fell into this category were among those reviewed in the second wave. In the section entitled "Future Collection Management Issues," Lougee identifies duplication, non-book formats, and preservation as some of the many issues libraries need to investigate as they prepare for remote storage.

Molyneux, Robert E. "Patterns, Processes of Growth, and the Projection of Library Size: A Critical Review of the Literature on Academic Library Growth." Library and Information Science Research 8 (Jan- uary-March 1986): 5-28.

This is a refreshingly clear and understandable look at complex growth formulas, past and present, and their viability for today's planners of tomorrow's library facilities. The author stresses from the beginning of the article that a mathematical model can be devel- oped only by observing the growth of a library in the past and by understanding the processes at work in the library during that growth. In fact, Molyneux says that understanding the processes is more important than just plotting the growth; the examples he gives convince the reader that he is on the right track. His explanations of exponential and arithmetic growth are clear enough to be understood even without the aid of the tables and examples that are provided. Other terms relating to the study of growth are also clearly defined. The author does a particularly good job in distinguishing patterns and processes. Past studies are summarized and evaluated. The author concludes that library growth between 1970 and 1980 is not exponential, even though

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growth between 1831 and 1938 was. He questions current methods of predicting growth and warns that planning decisions based on these methods are unsound. He declares that assuming patterns of growth in academic libraries to be unchanging is wrong, and he pleads with researchers to pay more attention to fundamental library operations when they are making growth predictions. All of this applies when planning for a remote storage facility.

Rice, Barbara A. "Science Periodicals Use Study." Serials Librarian 4 (Fall 1979): 36-47.

This study reports the findings of one of few periodical use studies carried out for the purpose of determining which volumes could be sent to remote storage without major inconvenience to users. The article includes a background and profile of the collec- tion studied, a section on the design of the study, and a detailed section about how the data were collected to include sample data collection forms. The results of the study are analyzed in three ways: an overall summary of the results, the correlation between the two semesters during which the study was conducted, and the correlation of use and citation frequency. After the unused titles were identified, they were placed in broad subject groupings and sent to faculty members in academic departments for discontinuation decisions. The author states in her conclusion that the information needed for storage decisions was obtained from this study; however, she does not say what subject areas were represented most often, when the materials were published, or what percentage of the collection was recommended for storage. In short, the methodology used in the study was well reported, while the conclu- sions that came out of the study were neither clearly defined nor supported well.

IMPLEMENTING THE STORAGE PROGRAM

Association of Research Libraries, Office of Manage- ment Studies. Remote Storage: Facilities, Materials Selection and User Services. SPEC Kit no. 164. Washington, DC: ARL, 1990.

Results of a 1990 survey of ARL libraries regard- ing remote storage are included. The services provided by nearly fifty libraries with remote storage programs are concisely outlined in a chart that describes how users submit requests for stored materials, retrieval turnaround time, whether or not the facility is open to the public, and on-site services provided at the storage facilities. The University of California at Berkeley and the University of Michigan contribute detailed state- ments of operating principles. Four libraries contribute reports in the section headed "Budget and Planning."

These include actual cost figures for shelving, retrieval, staffing, and administration.

Four libraries' criteria and procedures for selecting materials for storage are described. Two samples of internal working forms are used in this decision-making process. Finally, copies of user guides used at the University of California at Berkeley and at Case Western Reserve University are included.

Creaghe, Norma S., and Douglas A. Davis. "Hard Copy in Transition: An Automated Storage and Retriev- al Facility for Low-Use Library Materials." College & Research Libraries 47 (September 1986): 495-499.

The authors discuss the decision of California State University-Northridge Library (CSUN) to use an automated storage/retrieval system (AS/RS) to solve its space problems. After briefly discussing other storage alternatives, the authors describe CSUN's AS/RS, a system that interfaces with their online catalog and with their automated circulation system. Materials are stored randomly, in bins on shelves 100 feet long and 40 feet high. An electrically run, mechan- ical retriever is activated by the patron from the online catalog. When he or she chooses the material that is needed, that item is automatically taken from the proper bin by the mechanical retriever, checked out by a staff member, and sent to the location indicated by the patron. When materials are returned and new materials are assigned to storage, no effort is made to return them to the bin from which they were taken. They are merely assigned to the bin currently being filled and the new shelf number replaces the old one in the item record. Because construction costs are minimal and the AS/RS operates with little staff intervention, the authors estimate the cost of storage to be only $4.28 per volume. The AS/RS obviously precludes any browsing of the stacks, but remote facilities rarely have open stacks. A plus for this system is that usage data are collected easily; a minus is that, like all equipment, the mechanical retriever sometimes breaks, making retrieval impossible until it can be repaired.

Feinman, Valerie Jackson. "From Atticto Annex: The Story of an Off-Campus Storage Facility." Serials Librarian 5 (Summer 1981): 49-57.

Feinman offers a case study of the planning and implementation process of Adelphi University Library as it developed its off-campus storage facility. After providing a lengthy history of the library, the author describes in detail its preparation for moving materials to the storage facility. This library based the relegation decisions for monographs solely on circulation data; they based the relegation decisions for periodicals solely on date of publication. They decided to organize the off-site collection in the same way that the main

REMOTE STORAGE FACILITIES -- SUMMER 1994 25

collection was organized: reference, periodicals, science, and so on. None of these decisions turned out well. The first year, circulation from the storage facility accounted for 5 percent of the total circulation. (It is not unusual for a medium-sized academic library to circulate 500,000 items in one year--5 percent of that is 25,000 items.) The planners did not intend to staff the storage facility at all, and they began by making one trip per day to the facility to pick up requested items. Patrons were very unhappy with this arrange- ment. Adelphi addressed the problems by permanently recalling from storage every item that was requested by a patron and by setting up a circulation desk at the facility so that patrons who were willing to make the 23-mile drive could get immediate access to the needed materials. This article should be subtitled "How Not to Plan for and Operate a Storage Facility."

Henshaw, Rod, and Cordelia Swinton. "The Penn State Annex: A Model for Implementing a Successful Collection Storage Program." Technical Services Quarterly 7:4 (1990): 11-19.

This article is of particular interest because it focuses on the service program of an on-campus library storage facility. According to the authors, today's integrated library systems and telefacsimile technology help to break down some of the accessibility barriers once a problem with stored collections. The Pennsylva- nia State University Libraries had three criteria for assigning materials to its storage annex: low use, deteriorating physical condition, and protection from theft. The authors go into great detail about the selec- tion and transfer process Penn State used as they transferred 230,000 volumes to their annex. They are careful to remind the reader that service to users was their greatest concern during all stages of the process.

Penn State is determined that the service provided from their storage annex will be fast, flexible, and consistent. The online catalog records for the materials sent to storage are clearly marked "Annex" and contain a note that tells users to "inquire at the nearest circula- tion desk." Requests for materials are accepted at all circulation points and are quickly relayed to the annex by telephone or fax. Photocopies from noncirculating materials (up to 30 exposures per request) are provided from the annex at no cost to the user. There are two daily pick-ups and deliveries between the annex and campus libraries. Their delivery target is twenty-four hours or less, and ninety percent of all requests are filled within the target time.

Material is temporarily transferred out of storage when needed by faculty or graduate students and can be placed on general reserve. The transfer is done quickly, with a minimum of paperwork, thereby reducing users' fears about inaccessibility. To insure

consistent service, training manuals for staff were written, and training sessions are held to inform them about the retrieval service. The authors attribute the success of Penn State's storage program to many factors, among which are

a strong commitment to responsive ser- vices-geared to the convenience of users,

a strong performance record by public service units regarding delivery of materials requested by users, and

careful analysis of usage data, in order to confirm both the selection policies and service goals.

The circulation figures detailed atthe end of this article indicate that Penn State's selection process, as well as its service program, is very successful.

Jylhae-Pyykoenen, Annu. "A National Repository Library: The Finnish Solution." Interlending and Document Supply 18:3 (1990): 98-100.

This short but inclusive outline presents an overview of Finland's National Repositors' Library. It is a case study addressed to a North American audience. It is valuable for its discussion of the building itself and the staffing of the facility. Also interesting are discussions of the facility's funding and administra- tion.

Kennington, Don, and Brenda White. "National Repository Plans and Programmes." Interlending Review 10:1 (1982): 3-7.

This report summarizes the results of an interna- tional survey on book repository plans and practices. Its discussions of ownership of the materials and the management of shared facilities are important to those planning a storage facility, particularly since these issues are seldom addressed in the literature. Ken- nington and White point out that one of the problems of ownership is that libraries do not like to put their materials in another location because they lose some control over those materials. If participants in the shared collection decide that the materials deposited there will be owned jointly, or if ownership is trans- ferred to the facility, legal questions and questions of fiscal responsibility arise. These questions are hard but must be answered by administrators. The authors say that the success of the shared facility will rest on how well the participating libraries perceive that the collec- tion housed there is managed. They need to feel that the employees of the facility understand and are concerned about the conservation and preservation of

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