We are not the only library to use an ARS for storage of infrequently used books. We are the third library in the world to go live with such a system in a library setting (but fourth to start construction).

This page offers you an opportunity to visit other library related Automated Storage System sites. Some of these include California State University at Northridge (first to go live with an ARS in a library setting), Eastern Michigan University (second to go live), University of Nevada Las Vegas (fourth to go live), as well as Simon Fraser University - British Columbia, Canada (who are planning to build one, the first outside the U.S. to be planned), and a Depotbibliotek in Norway (may be first outside the U.S. to go live).
(More below)

Electronic Documents related to the ARS:

HK Systems is the name of the company that built our ARS. They have given me permission to re-publish an electronic PDF document describing the advantages of using an AS/RS or ARS or ALSS in a library environment over other alternatives. It may be useful for you if you are looking into the advantages of an ARS in a library environment. They have also published an online, web-based document specific in addressing use of an ASRS in a Library environment (ALSS) at http://www.hksystems.com/MARKETS/document_introduction.cfm?nam=Document_introduction. If you want to contact HK Systems about inclusion of an Automated Storage and Retreival System in a Library setting, please contact Jeff Hedges at jeff.hedges@hksystems.com. I still remain in contact with Jeff, and find him to be quick to respond and ready to provide assistance.
Swiss Log is an automation company that is looking to create Automated Systems for library settings.
is another automation company looking to provide ASRS for library settings. Mike Marlowe is now working for them and has done more consulting work with HK Systems. I enjoyed working with Mike Marlowe when he was with HK Systems and still hear from him. I also think Mike is a good guy to work with based on my experience with him when he was at HK Systems.

(I do not work for HK Systems or Swiss Log or get compensated in any way for including this or the positive comments about these companies and our experiences with them.)

Other Campus ARS related links:

http://libweb.sonoma.edu/about/schulz/alerts/050500.html Notices and move alerts with reference to the ARS.

http://libweb.sonoma.edu/about/schulz/retsys.html Official library publication with references to the ARS and its function.

http://libweb.sonoma.edu/about/schulz/tech.html Information about the new building

http://libweb.sonoma.edu/images/maps.html 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floor north maps show the ARS room taking up the northwest side of the building.

http://www.sonoma.edu/pubs/newsbytes/00/00may15f.html ARS is mentioned here

Off campus stories with reference to our ARS:

For these articles, you can try to check the original wired articles. if these links don't work, you can try the locally cached copies below. http://www.wired.com/news/culture/ars/index.html (expired? Article was not available, and then was available again.) Part 0 from Wired, http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,41905,00.html (expired? Article was not available, and then was available again.) Part 1 from wired, and http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,41905-2,00.html (expired? Article was not available, and then was available again.) Part 2 from Wired, may be available for your review. If for some reason, access to the expected resources from the three previous links are unavailable, I have a included the contents to these three links: part 0 locally cached, part 1 locally cached, and part 2 locally cached. (Wired copyright may preclude you from using the copied information from their site for commercial purposes. Wired Copyright included in the local pages made by them and any references to their story. You should read this if you intentions to use their material for more than your own personal browsing.)

http://ci.cotati.ca.us/history/tour_5.html City of Cotati wrote about the SSU Library ARS

The Press Democrat had an article at "http://216.167.95.20/business/news/24scalise.html" which is no longer available from them. It had an interview with Sam Scalise and mentioned the ARS.)

The Press Democrat had a photo of the ARS with Phillip Kajley working in the ARS. Date of publication: Tuesday, August 15,2000. Section: Empire News, B1 (I do not know how long they will keep their story on this up, but you can try to check out "http://www.pressdemocrat.com/local/news/15ssu_b1.html (expired).)

The Press Democrat had another photo of the ARS. Date of publication: Monday, August 28,2000. Section: (Not sure) (I do not know how long they will keep their story on this up, but you can try to check out "http://216.167.95.20/business/news/28robot_d1prerund.html" (expired).)

The Press Democrat had another story on Automated book storage in a library setting. Date of publication: Monday, July 1,2002. Section: TechMonday (D6), Title: "Book retrieving robots may roam future libraries", by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, New York Times inclusion. This was not published on their web site. However, the New York Times has published this on the web. For up to one week after the initial posting (June 27,2002) , you can view it on their site for free when you sign up for their free account. After one week, you will no longer be able to search for it on their site unless you have a paid subscription. In the response from them on this link, this link will allow you to view this story Titled: "In Remote Library Stacks, An All-Seeing, Scanning Robot" under "What's Next", published June 27, 2002. I also have a link to offer you a printer friendly format of that article, but it also requires signing up for a free account from the New York Times.

The University of British Columbia School of Library, Archival and Information Studies has a section on their website that discusses our ARS and ASRS in general at http://www.slais.ubc.ca/courses/libr500/01-02-wt1/www/J_Loo/. It has many references, and is a good general information space on the topic.

Other off campus ARS/ASRS links:

http://www.depotbibliotek.no/html/english.html is in English (http://www.Depotbibliotek.no/index.html for original) A website in Norway has an article on AS/RS in a library setting. (Not English, Norwegian) It appears they are planning to build and AS/RS at their new building site.

http://library.csun.edu/asrs.html CSU Northridge, Oviatt Library

http://library.csun.edu/asrsreq.html CSU Northridge, Oviatt Library

http://www.csun.edu/~vfoao0hf/asrs.html CSU Northridge, Oviatt Library

http://www.csun.edu/~hflib038/asrs.html (Expired? last checked 6/28/2002) CSU Northridge, Oviatt Library

http://www.emich.edu/halle/fachandbook.html#ARC Eastern Michigan University has an Automated Storage and Retrieval System.

http://www.emich.edu/halle/fachandbook.pdf They have a faculty handbook for their library that mentions their book robotic system.

http://www.emich.edu/public/mdb/cybrary.html (Expired? Last checked 06/28/2002) Eastern Michigan University, Bruce T. Halle Library

http://library.Nevada.edu/info/newlib/photos/liee0400.html UNLV, Lied Library

http://www.silkeborg-bibliotek.dk/elekby/personale/~hofman/holland/default-nov2000.html is another book robotic system.

http://dodona.lib.sfu.ca/kiosk/efairey/folbuild.htm (Expired? last checked 6/28/2002) Reference to "Book Robot" plan at SFU.

http://www.lib.sfu.ca/news/robot.htm SFU (Simon Fraser University - British Columbia, Canada) , W.A.C. Bennett Library's quest for an ARS/"Book Robot"

http://www.lib.sfu.ca/news/vol2no1.htm SFU (Simon Fraser University - British Columbia, Canada), W.A.C. Bennett Library's quest for an ARS/"Book Robot"

http://www.sfu.ca/mediapr/sfnews/1996/Oct3/bookrobot.html

The William F. Ekstrom Library at the University of Louisville, Kentucky has plans to build a new ASRS as part of their building expansion project.
Quote from "Diane M Nichols" diane.nichols@louisville.edu on the expansion project out at the The William F. Ekstrom Library at the University of Louisville, Kentucky:
We hope to be the first library in Kentucky, the southeast and possibly the first ARL library to build such a facility.

Valpariso University has construction and status information on their new library project.
Valparaiso University (Valparaiso Indiana) is building a new Information Center, and has floor plans that show an Automated Retrieval System. I just received notice (Jan. 30, 2003) that HK Systems has been awarded this project. View their PDF file press release. (January, 30, 2003)

http://www.uwo.ca/western/budget/table19.html suggested UWO was looking to get one.

http://Pegasus.me.jhu.edu/~allisono/publications/jcdl01-choudhury.pdf A PDF file (require adobe acrobat reader or a PDF reader) and offers information about "Comprehensive Access to Printer Material" and a "book robot" at John Hopkins University's "Moravia Park off-site shelving facility." This robotic system is designed to scan digital pages and serve them in an e-format.

http://stserv.hcf.jhu.edu/itnews/vol2issue3/dkc.html includes a tory about this robot and a picture of it on an HTML page instead of PDF.
http://dkc.mse.jhu.edu/CAPM/camp-cost-slides.ppt Is a power Point Presentation on this system.

I was unable to find any URLs from UWO offering more information on their Automated Retrieval System. I e-mailed them and did get a response.

An e-mail response to me from Len Geddie (Associate Director of Libraries) states: (published with permission)

We first became interested in an AS/RS because of a consultant's report in 1993. (Aaron Cohen Associates Ltd., 159 Teatown Road, Croton-on-Hudson, New York 10520, FAX (914) 271-2434.) He mentioned the system in use at the Oviatt Library, California State University, Northridge, as a potential solution to our storage problems. Subsequently we became interested in what appeared to be a less expensive storage facility, developed for Harvard in 1986. But we never got as far as an extensive study of existing AS/RS facilities, or site visits.

For several years we hoped to add an AS/RS to our main campus library (Weldon), and actually managed to have preliminary budget estimates incorporated into campus planning documents. Last year, however, we were asked by our university administration to redirect our planning toward an off-campus, very basic storage facility, as a more economically viable solution to our storage needs. That effectively ended our hopes for an AS/RS.

General:

http://www.hksystems.com/MARKETS/document_introduction.cfm?nam=Document_introduction is a an online document from HK that discusses use of an ASRS (or ALSS) in a Library setting for storage of paper/books and physical documents.

http://www.ala.org/acrl/kirsch.pdf is a PDF paper on use of AS/RS in library settings centered on how CSUN's success with their system has encouraged others to follow. (by Sarah Elizabeth Kirsch)

http://gilbreth.ecn.purdue.edu/~tanchoco/MHE/STOR/main.html (Expired? Last checked 6/28/2002) is a on-line paper with inclusion of AS/RS as part of the topic.

http://www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/Memorial/oconnor.htm includes comparison of storage systems including AS/RS (or ASRS or ARS), off-site storage, shelving systems and others.

Early attempts in library storage automation (circa 1960-1070) included the "RandTriever" which only appeared at a few library locations and met with little or no success. These were put into place before computer based resource searches and thoughts to only house infrequently used books instead of whole collections in such systems. These "RandTrievers" were expensive to maintain, and workloads imposed upon them to access most items caused wear and stress on the machinery.

"RandTrievers" required human users to transcribe sequences of numbers, letters and symbols to paper, perform a lookup of that "string" in another set of papers, write down the "string" indexed by the previous lookup, enter this "string" into another system that would pull a kind of shelf forward, and allow the user to pick an item.

After the item was picked, further steps would need to be endured in order to record the item that was taken out of the system and reverse the process to record its removal in the hand-written database..

A RandTrievers is shown and described here.
A person's thoughts on how library services have changed over the years includes information on their "RandTriever".
http://alexia.lis.uiuc.edu/course/fall1999/lis415a/draft_sched.htm A class schedule from UIUC (LIS415A: Library Automation) from Fall 1999.
http://gateway.library.uiuc.edu/administration/planningbudget/storage/resources/CICsummary.htm

Items I wish to read:


Meyboom, Leen. "The RandTriever at Erasmus University, Rotterdam --
1969-1990: two decades of change in mechanical books storage." Library
Hi Tech 8 (3), (1990): 83-85.

VanBrimer, Barbara et al. "The RandTriever: its use at the Ohio State
University." Library Hi Tech 8 (3), (1990): 71-81. 

Kountz, John. "Industrial Storage Technology Applied to Library Requirements."
  Library Hi Tech 5:4, consecutive issue no. 20 (Winter 1987): 13-22. 

Boss, Richard W. 1994. The procurement of an Automated Library System with a
  Model RFP. Library Technology Reports 30(3), pp. 331-344, May-June 1994. 

Berry, Jeff, Dania Bilal and W. David Penniman. "A Balancing Act: Automated
  System Market Place." Library Journal 124(6): 45-54; April 1, 1999. 

Cibbarelli, Pamela. "Library Automation: Today's Successes and Concerns."
  The Electronic Library 17(3): 155-157. June 1999