Re: [Fwd: barcode placement]

[Ellen Crosby <ECrosby@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I am interested in hearing if other
> libraries place barcodes on brittle, fragile, or valuable materials in
> general collections and, if so, where.

Andy, a colleague forwarded your question to me.   This is what we've used for "spine" labels for many years:  We cut a
strip of 10 pt. acid free stock the height of the book + the height of the label + a bit so the labe won't touch the text
block, then insert this "stick" inside the back cover. Books that are wrapped have the spine label on the spine of the
wrapper.

Now that we've begun barcoding, we're following the same procedure. I had originally thought we'd just put barcodes
vertically on the verso of the spine label sticks, but that idea proved unacceptable to the curator and the conservator
because the barcodes are wider (and also significantly thick) and might possibly touch (and damage) the book.  So we
ordered 25,000 sticks specially cut  to 15 x 2.5 inches, which is wide enough to hold the barcode label horizontally.  And
because the print on the smart barcodes was considered to be too small to use for retrieval, we're putting 2 sticks in the
books.  I'm betting that this will not significantly affect the long-term health of the item (but then I'm only a
cataloger and what do I know? she grumbled...)  Books in wrappers will also get a barcode on a stick, tucked inside the
outermost flap of the wrapper.

And, because someone wasn't paying attention, we re-ordered those 15 x 2.5 sticks, so I now have 50,000.  Want some??  I
would be more than happy to share.

Ellen
--
===============================================
Ellen Crosby   ECROSBY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Indiana Historical Society  317/232-1879 voice
315 W. Ohio S   317/233-3109 fax
Indianapolis IN 46202  http://www.indianahistory.org/
>>> Note improved website address ^^^^^^^^^
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