ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 82 / C& R L News Helpful Hints for Moving or Shifting Collections A nthony J. A m o d eo L ib rarian Illinois C o o p era tiv e C onservation Program S IU -C a rb on d ale In this era o f eb b in g fin an cial support for li­ braries, in w hich the costs o f rep air, rebinding and rep lacem ent o f even ordinary m aterials continu e to c lim b , it makes p erfect sense to take precautions in o rd er to p reven t unnecessary d am age to c o lle c ­ tions, especially research collections. I t w ill not be surprising, th erefore, to see b etter h and lin g proce­ dures encouraged in acad em ic lib raries, through sta ff tra in in g and p atron ed ucation, once its cost- effectiveness is realized. T h e processes involved in m oving o r shifting a substantial num ber of lib rary m aterials m ake this activity an especially im p o rtan t occasion fo r sta ff train in g and close supervision. I f c a re is not taken, m any years w orth o f w ear and te a r and accidental dam age to m aterials can be inflicted in a m a tter o f hours. I t is w ith this in m ind th at the follow ing rec­ om m endations are presented. M arking Instead o f using pressure-sensitive tags on books for m arking range or shelving o rder, try ta ll color- coded or num bered strips o f paper th a t can be in ­ serted either between books o r in th e first or final book. T h e se slips, alw ays ta lle r th a n th e books them selves, should be rem oved a fter th e move is com p lete, since they a re p ro b ab ly acidic. R em oval from Shelf S t a f f should b e tra in e d to rem o v e books by grasping them at th e m iddle (“w aist”) rather than tu gging at th e h eadcap , w hich causes dam age. Su­ pervisors must be w atchfu l for this, especially as the day w ears on and bad h abits surface. A djacent books m ay be pushed slightly tow ard the back of the shelf to expose enough o f th e desired book for grasping. Books should be grasped securely and in sm all enough quan tity to assure safe handling. C areful h and lin g is cheap er th an excessive speed. All books should be supported in an upright posi­ tion at all stages o f hand ling or else laid flat. This m eans th a t when books are taken from a shelf, the rem ain ing books are not allowed to slouch, sag, or slide. O n e hand can hold the unsupported book against th e rem ainder o f books on th e shelf w hile a second person loads the book truck or c a rt. An a l­ tern ativ e is the use o f w rapped housebricks to hold otherw ise unsupported books up right; these are easier to m anipulate than bookends, and can be slid quickly w ith one hand. L ack in g bricks or book­ ends, the last th ree or four books in th e row can be stacked fla t to provide support. H ow ever, if three- person team s a re used for th e m ove (one to remove books, one to p lace them on the c a rt, a third to transport th e ca rt) ‚ such stackin g is usually unnec­ essary. An ad equ ate num ber o f stable standing kick­ stools or oth er risers should be provided for each te a m , so th a t m aterials on th e top shelves w ill not be yanked o ff, or the rem ain ing books fall o ff the sh elf for lack o f support. L o ad ing onto C arts Bookcarts should be loaded in a prescribed order to prevent both non-sequential transfer into new locations, and any instab ility o f th e c a rt during transit w hich m ay cause spills (see illu stration). I f double rows o f books a re set on the truck, this b e­ co m es o f p a r a m o u n t im p o r ta n c e . R a r e books should only be moved in single rows. Books should be adequ ately supported on the carts so th a t th ere will be m inim um sliding and no lean ing during transport. At the sam e tim e, books should not be stuffed tightly enough to cause a b ra ­ sion or crushing. W rapp ed bricks can be used to support books during th e loading, and bricks or bookends should be used for supporting books dur­ ing transit if th e truck is not filled end-to-end. March 1983 / 83 I f spillage o f m aterial occurs during transit, the cause should be identified and a solution found im ­ m ed ia te ly . So m e causes m ay b e : th e c a r t was pushed too fast, especially around corners; large books w ere loaded in double rather th an single row s; th e rows w ere not centered on th e c a rt; books w ere not adequ ately supported on the c a rt, o r held too loosely; the type o f ca rt or floorin g caused ex­ cessive vib ratio n. In the last case, single-row’ load­ ing should be em ployed for all books, w hich should be constantly m onitored during transit. I f p rob­ lems persist, inner tubes m ight be cu t into large “ru b b er bands” about tw o inches wide and ca re­ fu lly slipped around the c a rt; th e sam e could be done w ith lengths o f n on-abrasive cloth , tied at one end. T h e surface o f th e carts m ight also be padded securely for extra p rotection. Reshelving M aterials should be carefully placed in order in th eir new locations; books w ill not then need to be slid around to accom m odate out-of-sequence m a ­ te r ia l. T h is is ea sily a c co m p lish ed if th e c a rt- lo ad in g p ro ced u re is consistent th ro u gh o u t the m ove. L o catio n slips can be removed w hen the shelves have been read. G en eral Guidelines T h e m ove should b e co n sta n tly supervised to avoid th e reversion to h a b it th a t accom panies fa ­ tigue. A dequate break tim e is im portant. V ery th ick , larg e, o r heavy books a re b etter moved laid fla t on th e truck. F la t or fragile m ateri­ als should be protected by a folder or oth er p ro tect­ ive enclosure before th e m ove begins; otherw ise, m overs should be a lerted to th eir existen ce and h a n d lin g . Ite m s in bad re p a ir m ay h a v e to be bagged, boxed, or tied to avoid loss o f parts. No books should be shelved o r carted on their fore-edges; if a large book does not fit upright on th e c a rt o r shelf, it should be laid fla t or set spine down. Problem s and logjam s should be dealt w ith as th ey o ccu r, and procedures m odified w here neces­ sary. Planned alternatives can be useful. C areless o r rough h andling o f m aterials should not be tolerated . A w orker who cann o t m odify his or her behavior should be reassigned to less critical work. A fter the m ove has been accom plished, a m em o­ randum or short report should be w ritten to serve as a guide in fu ture moves. A m ove can be a useful tool in identifying the m ainten ance and rep air needs o f the collection. If a d e q u a te s ta ff is a v a ila b le , a system for noting items th a t need care can be set up and the results su bseq uen tly used as resources fo r a p p ro p riate trea tm en t, c a re , or rep lacem ent becom e available. Any lib ra ria n with a good sense for conservation could com p ile and add to this set of rules and cave­ ats, just by giving the m atter some thought. I f the reco m m en d atio n s ab o ve seem ra th e r com m on - sensical— congratulations! You have a good con­ servation attitud e. And m uch o f lib rary conserva­ tio n has to do w ith th e a p p lica tio n o f com m on sense to availab le inform ation. S im ilar awareness applied to lib ra ry routines and tasks, such as re­ sh elvin g, c irc u la tio n p roced ures, and m a rk in g , w ill do m uch to low er th e costs o f a lib rary “doing business.” T h is sort o f p reventative a ttitu d e, put into p ra ctice, is one of th e best and cheapest kinds o f conservation. ■ ■ E d ito r ’s n ote: Any C & R L News read ers w h o h a v e fu r th er tips on han dlin g h o o k s during a m o v e an d w ish to s h a r e t h e m , m a y w r it e to G e o r g e M. E h erh a rt, A C R L /A L A , 50 E. Huron Street, C h i­ cag o, I L 60611. H A V E YOU M ISSED T H E S E PU B L IC A T IO N S ? T a k e advantage o f A C R L ’s sale and com p lete your lib ra ry ’s holdings by ord ering the follow ing ti ­ tles at greatly reduced prices. T h e y are availab le p re p a id for th e follow ing special prices and w ith an accom p an yin g m ailin g la b el, from ACRL/A LA , 5 0 E . Huron S t ., C h icag o , I L 6 0 6 1 1 . N etw orks an d th e University L ib rary . (1 9 7 4 ). 9 0p . R egularly $3. Now $1. Proceedings o f an insti­ tu te sponsored by th e University L ib raries Section. Papers by Fred Kilgour, Hugh Atkinson, B rigitte K enney, and others. ACRL University L ibrary Statistics‚ 1 9 7 8 -1 9 7 9 . (1980). 47p . R egularly $5. Now $1. Statistics from 9 8 no n-A R L university libraries. Salary Structures o f L ibrarians in H igher E d u ca­ tion f o r the A cadem ic Year 1 9 7 5 -7 6 . (1 9 7 6 ). 33p. R egularly $ 2 .5 0 . Now $1. A D irectory o f Asian an d African L ibrarians in North America. (1 9 7 8 ). 33p . R egularly $5. Now $ 2 .5 0 . Slavic Ethnic L ibraries. Museums an d Archives in the United States: A G uide an d Directory. (1980). 164p. R egu larly $ 1 4 for A C R L m em bers, $ 1 7 .5 0 for non-m em bers. Now $6 for m em bers, $9 for non-m em bers. New from A C R L B ack to the B ooks: B ibliographic Instm ction and the Theory o f Inform ation Sources. (1 9 8 3 .) 76p . $12 for A C R L m em bers, $15 for non-m em bers. ISBN 0 -8 3 8 9 -6 5 8 7 -3 . Papers presented a t th e B ib lio ­ grap hic Instruction Section program at the 1982 ALA annual conference. E d ited by Ross Atkinson. L ib ra ry Statistics o f C olleges an d Universities: Summary D ata‚ 1979. (1 9 8 2 ). 73p . $10 for A C R L m em b ers, $ 1 3 fo r n o n -m e m b e rs. U n p u b lish ed d ata from the N ational C en ter fo r E d u catio n S ta ­ tistics H E G IS survey. ■ ■ 84 / C &RL News A C R L /IS I F E L L O W S H IP S A W A R D E D D enise D . Bedford, assistant to the director for te ch n ical services a t th e Stanford University L i ­ b raries, has been selected to receive the 1983 S a ­ m uel L azerow Fellow ship for O utstanding C o n tri­ butions to A cquisitions or T ech n ica l Services in an A cadem ic or R esearch L ib rary. T h e fellow ship is offered jo in tly by A C R L and the Institu te for Sci­ en tific Inform ation . T h e aw ard was granted for her research pro­ posal on “T ech n ica l Processing Costs in L a rg e A ca­ dem ic Research L ib raries” and consists of a c ita ­ tion and $ 1 ,0 0 0 to b e aw arded at A LA Annual C on feren ce in Los Angeles. Bedford’s p ro ject will test the feasibility o f c a lcu la tin g tech n ical process­ ing costs across institutional and organizational boundaries and is scheduled for com p letion in J a n ­ uary, 1984. T h e Sam uel Lazerow Fellow ship has been estab­ lished to foster advances in acquisitions or te ch n i­ cal services by providing librarian s in those fields a fellow ship for research, travel, or w riting. P ro­ posals are judged on th eir p otential significance, o rigin ality, and cla rity . T h e aw ard is named in honor o f Sam uel Lazerow , a senior vice-president o f the Institute for Scien tific Inform ation who died in 1981. Stanton F . Biddle, associate director fo r p lan ning and developm ent a t the S ta te University of New York at Bu ffalo L ib ra ry , has been granted a doctoral dissertation fellow ship by A C R L and the Institu te for Scien tific Info rm atio n for a proposal entitled “T h e Planning Fu nctio n in the M anage­ m ent o f U niversity L ib ra rie s: Survey, Analysis, Conclusions and R ecom m end ation s.” Biddle is a doctoral cand idate at th e School o f L ib ra ry and In ­ form ation Studies, University o f C alifo rn ia , B erke­ ley. T h e aw ard consists of a citatio n and $ 1 ,0 0 0 contributed by IS I and w ill be presented to Biddle at ALA Annual C onference in Los Angeles. This year’s aw ard is th e first A C R L D octoral D issertation Fellow ship to be granted. T h e pur­ pose of the fellow ship is to foster research in a c a ­ dem ic librarianship by encouraging and assisting doctoral students in the field w ith th eir dissertation research. R ecipients o f the fellow ship must be active doc­ toral students in the a cad em ic librarianship area in a degree-granting institution who have com pleted all their coursework and had th eir proposal ac­ cepted by th e institution. T h e criteria for judging include the potential significance o f th e research, m ethodological validity, originality, c la rity , and a convincing tim etable. A pplications for next yea r’s awards m ay be made to Sandy W h iteley , Program O fficer, ACRL/A LA , 50 E a st Huron Street, C h icag o , I L 6 0 6 1 1 . T hey must b e received by D ecem b er 1, 1983, to be eligi­ ble. ■ ■