“Many would consider off‐site storage to be what economists call an inferior good. Who among us wouldn't prefer to build spacious new libraries with perfect climate control and adaptable infrastructure for future technological requirements right on campus.” Thus begins the introduction to this useful collection of essays on high‐density off‐site shelving facilities in the USA. The contributors, primarily librarians but also including an architect, a storage consultant and a systems analyst, bring their specialist knowledge to bear in this highly pragmatic description of the planning, construction and operational issues of such facilities.
It is the stated aim of the editors, themselves with considerable experience in this area at Yale and Harvard, to “codify folklore into reference information for those planning or beginning to operate such facilities” and the work fulfils this purpose admirably.
The essays are grouped into sections, the initial section comprising five case studies covering governance issues and cost models. The first examines the client‐owner, cost‐recovery model in place at the Harvard Depository, established for the needs not only of its libraries but also university archives and records, and a pioneer of modern high‐density storage. The second offers an insight into “next‐generation” storage and delivery, looking at the role of Johns Hopkins University and others in the CAPM project, an initiative which is researching real‐time access to remotely stored materials by transmitting scanned images direct to the desktop using robotic technology.
Consortial models in the state‐wide solution adopted by the academic libraries in Ohio and in the facility established for the seven university libraries that form the Washington Research Library Consortium are covered in studies three and four, and the section ends with a description of the first off‐site high‐density book facility planned for the Library of Congress.
The architect of the first Harvard Depository provides his perspective on the design and construction process next, and this is followed by an account of why and how to build a high‐density shelving system to meet particular requirements. The work then moves on to address the core issue of preservation, offering a detailed description of preservation issues based on experience at the Yale shelving facility. Essays looking at experience in the selection and transfer of material to remote storage come next, and there are further sections on systems, accessioning and management issues, services and special collections before the work ends with a useful bibliography and list of storage facility Web sites.
The volume is a timely and valuable contribution to the literature as librarians the world over struggle to resolve the issues of preservation of, and access to, low‐use materials in the face of increasing pressures on space created by continued growth in the published output and the demands of the new networked environment.
The essays contain a wealth of practical detail including many useful charts and tables. The obvious pitfalls of a “one‐size‐fits‐all” approach are avoided and an attempt made instead to identify best practice for those planning or already running facilities of this kind. A point for busy readers to note is that the content of the essays do not always fit neatly into the section headers, and the use of the index is advised to ensure full coverage of any given topic.
