[Publib] (no subject)

[Robert L. Balliot]

I really like those ideas of lighting.  It made me flash
back to my time as the book stacks manager at Brown University.
There were no up to date floor plans for either the Sciences
Library of the Rockefeller Library.  Big buildings, lots of
floors, a few million books.

People would get off the elevators totally confused.  There
were maps behind the glass, but they were derived from blueprints
from the original buildings.  The Rockefeller Library had been
designed with a pneumatic tube system to have books paged.
That did not work out and open stacks became the norm.

There was a small book published with external elevations and
floor plans when the library was dedicated. So, I took my
Mac Classic with its 8" black and white screen, scanned the
pages, created templates, and redrew every floor pixel by 
pixel.  Then I used a Canon CLC that had been donated by a
wealthy patron and took the drawings that had rendered as 
tif  and enlarged and colorized them.  Then, I created a system
of icons that were based on standard devices and put those
on each.  Fire extinguishers / rest rooms / computers / carrels 

I took all of the call numbers in LC and Cutter and SUDOCs
and created a database of them in ClarisWorks.  Then, I generated
range markers that corresponded to each set.

With the technology available now, I can think of many
ways to have done this so much easier.  But, it solved the
problem of letting people find their materials.  Of course, it
also added to the regular job of re-shelving materials.  People
found what they wanted and accelerated what was required of
my team.

Now, I think I would create a three dimensional floor plan
using KML, embed pictures of the surfaces of the building and
allow people to essentially walk through.  With
an internet connection on any terminal, you would be able to
lead them through your virtual library. Patrons could see where
they want to go without leaving the desk.


*************************************************
Robert L. Balliot
Skype: RBalliot
Bristol, Rhode Island
http://oceanstatelibrarian.com/contact.htm
*************************************************

There *are* ways to point:

I worked in a library that had stuffed dinosaurs on top of the high 
shelves over the dinosaur books. That saved *thousands* of times staff 
would have walked a child to the far corner of the library to show 
him/her where the dinosaur books were.

Laser pointers could work, in some instances.

Directions like "third shelf from the top on the second (whatever)..." 
depending on how good your signage is.

And I've already posted about my uncle and his system of light bulbs 
over the over-the-counter medicine a customer would ask for. His 
customers were loyal. I never heard of anyone being put off by a light 
bulb turning on over the shelf where the medicine he wanted was.

I think we haven't put enough thought into modern ways of getting around 
that "walk them to wherever" service. Surely technology is just dangling 
out there, just waiting to be developed/implemented, to enhance our 
service. What about those "ropes" of "chasing lights"? Can they be adapted?


Phalbe Henriksen
Director
Alexander County Library
Taylorsville, NC


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