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Re: compact shelving



On Wed, 13 Feb 2002, Joanne Seitter wrote:

> Has anybody had used compact shelving installed in their place?
> What are the costs involved in installing?

Several years ago, when the Bronx Zoo Library was buying a new compact shelving
system for the book and journal collection, the dealer/installer mentioned that
a used system was available at a highly discounted price. (The figure sixty
percent of original price sticks in my mind as our cost for the installed, used
system.) Our publications department purchased that system, which happened to be
a reasonable fit for the publications storage room. There have been no problems
with this manual system in several years of not very demanding use.

Since compact shelving systems are custom manufactured to fit spaces with
specific dimensions, one concern is the degree of fit between the used equipment
and the new space. Used equipment will probably work best in a small, simple
installation with little need for variation in individual ranges of shelving.

A second concern would be the quality of the installation. The used system here
was originally installed, removed, stored, and reinstalled by the same company,
which has a good track record for installations and service.

A third concern would be the fit between the shelving and the proposed new
contents. In our case, the shelving originally held reels of 9 track computer
tape.  With the removal of some unneeded metal uprights used to support the
computer reels, the shelving worked fine for unbound and boxed journals.  Had
the shelving originally been cantilever style book shelving, with seven inch
deep shelves, the reuse probably would not have worked.

If I were looking for more used shelving, I would talk to my local compact
shelving dealers and make inquiries at local groups of archivists and records
managers. The large number of corporate library closures in recent years
suggests that many used compact systems should be available.


Steve Johnson
Wildlife Conservation Society
sjohnson@wcs.org
sjohnson@westnet.com
http://www.westnet.com/~sjohnson

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