Purpose – Mechanical systems in library environments are typically designed to run continuously in order to maintain the desired environmental conditions for preservation purposes, often resulting in a high cost in dollars and energy consumption. Altering these conditions through changed HVAC operating schedules is a risk many librarians and institutions are hesitant to take. This study aims to introduce the methodology and early findings of current research into the question of whether energy usage can be significantly reduced in libraries by carefully monitored and risk‐managed shutdowns of air handling units (AHUs) during unoccupied hours in selected spaces without compromising the quality of the preservation environment.Design/methodology approach – As part of the project, the authors are monitoring up to three air handling units (AHUs) at each of five partner institutions, three of which are university libraries or repositories, as well as the associated collections spaces served by the units.Finding...

Research on energy savings opportunities in university libraries

Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery Service departments sit on a wealth of information that can be beneficial to other library departments. Statistics are studied to find ways to improve the fill rate, decrease the number of NO's to either the requesting patron or the requesting library, which can show us where we can improve our services and potentially what additional skills or training staff could use. At the University of Central Florida, the Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery Service Department teamed up with the Acquisitions and Cataloging departments to develop projects that support all library departments, staff, and patrons.

ILL data drives technical services projects

This review covers the literature of acquisitions from 2010 through 2011. This period was punctuated by continuing economic challenge, and the themes expressed in the literature are largely related to this situation. Libraries moved with conviction toward patron-driven acquisitions. The reexamination of the Big Deal persisted as libraries felt the strain of budget cuts. Approval plans continued to evolve and e-books steadily increased market share. Workflows and management tools became more sophisticated as librarians and vendors sought to cope efficiently with the influx of electronic resources.

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Literature of Acquisitions in Review, 2010–11

Sustainability and Safety of the Facility

Abstract This literature review continues work done by Phyllis O’Connor in 1994. This review examines the literature surrounding library storage between the years 1995-2021 in order to identify trends, themes, and ideas that have emerged in the intervening years, as well as confirms themes and ideas that remain the same. Some of these themes include a deeper focus on metadata, collection maintenance after items have been transferred to storage, and issues of preservation. What remains constant is the need for communication with all stakeholders, and the importance library storage plays in providing access to patrons.

Revisiting the Library Storage Literature Review

Southern Illinois University at Carbondale has a student population of 18,847 undergraduate, graduate, and PhD students. Morris Library, an Academic Research Library (ARL), has over 2.5 million volumes of monographs, serials, and microfilm. The library has three additional storage facilities across the campus and in the town of Carbondale. In 2011, mold was discovered on a bound journal title in one of the storage buildings. A brief assessment determined that there was a major mold outbreak spanning many collections within the building. At the same time, the library and campus experienced budget and labor issues which posed problems for planning a mold remediation project. Planning the project was just one of many obstacles. Other issues included securing money for supplies, labor, training, and the realization four months after the start of the project that the mold growth was much more widespread than originally thought. Research established that the mold was most likely between 5 to 12 years old but ha...

Poor Man's Preservation: Mold Remediation on a Budget

Between 2004 and 2008, Morris Library's monographic budget was reduced by over $400,000 representing a fifty percent reduction. The increase in serial prices forced the shifting of monograph funds to the serials budget. Despite this shift, the increase in serials costs, combined with an otherwise flat budget, resulted in two serials' cancellation projects in a span of four years. Faced with these economic realities, the acquisitions unit at Southern Illinois University's Morris Library has sought alternative schemas to save money. One decision was to consider purchasing materials from secondary and used-book sources. For fiscal year 2009, a database was constructed of purchases to track how much money was saved buying from these resources versus buying from commercial vendors. The authors then tracked how often the preservation unit within the library was consulted to determine whether the materials were in acceptable condition and/or could be reasonably repaired. From this tracking, we hoped to determine...

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Julie Mosbo

Papers

Poor Man's Preservation: Mold Remediation on a Budget

Buying from Secondary Markets: Acquiring Dollars and Sense