Mobile shelving makes efficient use of storage space. (Source: U. of Calgary)
Massive, nine-metre-high mobile shelving, 4,500 additional square metres of storage and processing space, a new archival conservation area and acoustically treated rooms for audiovisual preservation. The new features of the University of Calgary’s High Density Library (HDL) will strengthen support for students and researchers and enhance the maintenance of world-class collections well into the future.
Vecause of this expansion, we have been able to reimagine our workflows. The HDL is now the central intake and processing point for all materials coming to the university’s libraries, archives and special collections,” says Dr. Mary-Jo Romaniuk, vice-provost (libraries and cultural resources). “The new spaces greatly expand our capacity to care for collections of rare and unique materials of cultural significance.”
Twenty-seven staff members from main campus have relocated to the HDL to work in the expanded space for arranging, describing and processing library acquisitions including books and journals, donations and archival materials.
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By storing certain materials at the HDL, the university is able to use space in campus libraries for collaborative learning, multimedia, data visualization and accessibility of primary resources such as archives, special collections and museum objects. Items requested by 10 a.m. on a weekday will be available for review at the Taylor Family Digital Library on the next weekday.
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
