Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Lots Happening

It has been a busy February! 
  • The rails are being installed in Ivy Stacks.  Renee has posted some photos for you to check out.  
  • Pre-processing operations at the Linden Ave. facility are going well.  It is easy to see that sorting by size, even when you are placing the items in a box rather than a tray, significantly reduces the space occupied by the materials.  
  • Hopefully we will be getting our first shipment of trays this week, then it will be time to start folding about 50,000 or more of them.  
  • The order picker specifications are a topic of much discussion and we should be able to place the order this week.  I hope.  There is a long turn-around time between placing the order and having it delivered, and we will need the machine starting day one, so this is important to get correct and done soon.
  • I am worried that the upgrade to the fire suppression system, requiring digging up the temporary loading dock we had prepared, will delay the delivery of the shelving infrastructure.  I hope not, but we'll see.
  • I am starting to put together a plan for the staffing needed to process the items.  Among the challenges are we will be in at least three locations (not counting the work being done by the staff at the Darden Business School Library), with only one on Grounds in Alderman Library.  Other challenges include the physical nature of the work--there is a lot of lifting and standing.  Also, the materials we are processing are often old and dusty.  Not a good environment for our friends with allergies.  We will be counting mostly on regular library staff to pitch in, and they are all busy with their regular work.  However, we'll get it done somehow.
  • Finally, I had an awesome trip to our good friends at Wake Forest University.  They have been going through the same process as UVa and have been very willing to share their experience.  Big shout out to Mary Beth Lock, Lauren Corbett, and all the crew at WFU for allowing me to look over their shoulders and ask questions.  They started from scratch and have made incredible progress.  They have a lot to be proud of.
Next up is to finish the rail installation, pour concrete, erect the shelving, and move about one million books, journals, folio boxes, microforms, LPs, and other assorted items into the renovated Ivy Stacks.  Sounds daunting, but so far so good.

Paul