RE: Moving and/or storing early printed books and

[Dean DeBolt <UWF.LIB#u#PO.ddebolt@neptune.icd.uwf.edu>]

Subject:  RE: Moving and/or storing early printed books and 
         
	manuscripts

Two years ago, I was in charge of moving my Department
(Special
Collections comprising manuscripts, rare books, newspapers,
glass plate negative photographs, maps) out of the Library
during renovation.  I'll share briefly some of the
ideas/concerns/solutions that we used.

1)  The Department was split into three parts.  These were
(1) offices and service area; (2) accessible collections;
and (3) collections that would be stored (and in accessible)
during the move/renovation period.
These three areas were located in three different sites,
although (1) and (2) were in the same building, though
different floors.

2)  All materials to be stored were carefully packed in
boxes.  These must be very precisely labelled for staff
(us!) as I found out during the move and after the move back
into quarters, when I could be often muttering "what the
he-- is in THIS box?  the label makes no sense."
Secondly, if you use movers, be sure the labels are
color-coded.  We used goldenrod paper for the labels of
boxes to go to location (3) during the move.

3) Be very careful even in splitting the collection to note
items in the inaccessible area that you either really want
access to or which may require special environmental
controls.  In fact, be very careful during move planning to
see where and how materials will be stored.   I've noted
some commercial firms don't use HVAC systems in their
warehouses.

4) You will need to keep some kind of precise record as to
where materials ARE and SIZE.   In moving back to renovated
quarters, we had to note on the shelving that 4 shelves
might be XXX which was coming from storage site A, and 3
shelves should be left bare for YYY which was coming from
storage site B.

5) In selecting storage areas (the university opted to
"save" money by not renting remote storage), we checked
surplus equipment and other areas for temporary shelving. 
We had some shelving erected for us and we had small
air-conditioners put in to at least reduce humidity and cool
areas.   You also need to ask the occupants of any building
you intend to use about leaks, etc. in their roof.    We had
three small leaks in one of our areas but folks had told us
about these and I had plastic sheeting available/ready and
checked the areas at the time of the first major rain.
The scariest time for me was during Hurricane Erin in August
1995 when
1/2 of our collection was in a steel building with a flat
roof just over the collection--I was frankly shocked that it
survived intact although it took two days to clear pine
trees away from that building to get to it.

Finally, we had great success in using floor plans taped to
boxes to indicate to movers (and to us) where items were to
go.  I used a cheapie 3-D floor plan software from a local
office supply shop and recreated both the temporary storage
areas (for the first move) and the final finished quarters
(for the move back).  It saved a lot of time; movers
(venders and student helpers) were able to read the
"pictures" much better than call numbers, etc.

Dean DeBolt
Special Collections
University of West Florida Library
11000 University Parkway
Pensacola, FL  32514-5750 ddebolt@neptune.icd.uwf.edu tele: 
904-474-2213 fax:   904-474-3338