The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Documents Collections and Off-Site Storage Bill Sudduth University of South Carolina Documents Entrance University of South Carolina • Shared Regional Depository with Clemson University since 1988 • Regional for Commerce, Defense, HHS, Interior, Treasury, Transportation, Congress • Selects 92.5% of available items • Paper collection just under 1 million items Library Annex and Conservation Facility USC Library Annex • Harvard-style high-density storage • Capacity for 1.25 to 1.5 million items • Annex includes storage facility, processing area, rooms for researchers, preservation lab • Located 10 miles from Campus Inside the Box Processing Area Conference Room Issues to be covered • Selection - making the tough decision • Processing - the hard work • Shipping - letting go • Recall - maintaining access Tight spaces in the collection Life under the front doors Selecting Items to Annex • Space - 1999 Documents stacks were at 125% capacity • Preservation - materials needing a more stable environment • Use - little used items • Ease of processing * Serials = few records many items Climate Control Processing - The Hard Work • Identify Cataloging Records to be entered and edited by Cataloging Department • Each item must have an item record/barcode - preferably on front cover • Items must be cleaned of mold and dust • Leather bound items stabilized in mylar bags Barcoded Items Ready to Go Leather volumes in mylar bags Processing - Evolution • 1999 * Identification of items done by department * Barcoding and cleaning done in department • 2001/2002 * Identification of items * Selection of cataloging records * Cleaning, barcoding, items records * Shipping ALL DONE BY DOCUMENTS DEPARTMENT Causes for Evolution • Desire for more control of the process • Staff more familiar with creating holding and item records • Efficiency - processing done on one-level • Reductions in Cataloging Staff * Cataloging lost 2 Professionals & 2 LTAs • Became a department priority Annex containers waiting to go Shipping • Once processed items put into containers • Usually ship 20-35 containers at a time • Number of items depends on size • Containers taken to the loading dock • Annex runs done twice a day * 10 AM & 2 PM Recall of items • Request form on Library's Home Page • Patron selects form * Book and other formats * Serials • Items are shipped to Library's Circulation Desk • Customer retrieves item from Circulation • Items can be restricted to "in department & "library use only" Recall, part 2 • Requests before 11 AM will arrive 3 PM same day • Requests 11 AM- 4 PM will be available 10 AM the next day • Requests made after 11 AM on Friday are available Monday by 3 PM Selection of Materials • Serial Set - all items prior to 1950 * Have since sent 1950-1960 * Currently processing 1960-1970 * Readex micro-card collection used as back-up * 19th Century volumes had to be cleaned, vacuumed, and bagged * Annex better environment (55 F/45 % Humidity) * Created needed space quickly Serial Set Selection of Materials, 2 • Agriculture - 200+ items; 37 feet • Civil Service - 250+ items; 21 feet • Army Manuals - 3580 items; 192 feet • Interior - 1500+ items; 10 feet • Treasury Department - 100+; 110 feet • War Department - 200+ items; 40 feet • Serial Set - 7300+ items; 1236 feet GRA&I Evolving Selection Criteria • Post- 1976 Items * EPA reports sent because of leak * (1700+ items; 58 feet) • Congressional Materials * House Appropriations (1400+; 150 feet) • Government Reports & Announcements Index (GRA&I) - 460+ items; 100 feet * No longer used; available online Annex Processing • Items are sized • Individual items are linked to container and location codes • Containers placed on shelf • Have had only three recall problems in three years; all items were eventually found; in couple of hours Processing area Sizing Board Tray code assigned The Good More space in Documents Better storage at the Annex Microfilm Good, part 2 Extended Life The Bad and the Ugly • Increased workload • Desire to keep up the pace • Cleaning • Discovering mold/mold abatement Additional Annex Photos Double deep shelves Cherry Picker 40 feet up From 38 feet down