[PADG:348] Re: spine up versus spine down shelving

[Jacob Nadal <jnadal@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

If it helps, at IU we shelve spine down and I don't think we're 
particularly slow. Has anyone actually done a time/cost study of 
shelving spine up or down? I checked in at the ARL stats site and saw 
that the median number of initial circs/student last year was 4972. IU 
circs around 6000/student and yes, UF had us by about 2-3 book trucks 
for the last two years, at around 6600/student. But we were on fire in 
2001: 10,129/student!

Well, anyways... that omits a number of important considerations, of 
course. Still and all, without something to indicate otherwise, I would 
guess that spine direction makes no significant difference in the time 
required to either shelve or locate materials. In both cases, I'd think 
that the ability to read call#'s on nearby books to narrow the shelving 
location is probably at least as significant as the orientation of the 
book after it's shelved.

On the flip-side, I know exactly much it costs to rebind something 
that's come out of its case from poor shelving, and it's more than what 
it costs us for an hour of student labor...

--Jake

---------------------------------------------
Jacob Nadal
Head, E. Lingle Craig Preservation Laboratory
Indiana University Libraries
(812) 855-6281 | mailto:jnadal@xxxxxxxxxxx
---------------------------------------------

On Feb 9, 2005, at 5:50 PM, Cathleen Mook wrote:

> All,
>  
> For decades, UF has shelved volumes that are too tall to stand up on 
> their individual shelves spine up. (If the volume is really tall, we 
> do have an oversize area, I am talking about medium tall things...)  I 
> am trying to get this practice changed but the thinking that it is too 
> hard and it takes too much time for the shelvers to do their job when 
> the call number label is pointing down and not up is very ingrained 
> here.  May I ask if anyone on the list has had success changing their 
> local spine up shelving policy to a spine down shelving policy and if 
> so, would they be willing to give me some specific advice?  I know it 
> is going to be a matter of 'educate, educate, educate' but I seem to 
> be hitting some road blocks...
>  
> Thanks,
>
>
> Cathy
>  
>
> Cathleen L. Mook
> Head, Preservation
> University of Florida
> Box 117007
> Gainesville, FL 32611
> (voice) 352-392-6962
> (fax) 352-392-6597
> (email) cmook@xxxxxxx
>