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Jed Boal and Tom Callan reporting Tackling research projects has changed drastically in recent years. Whether you search online or in a library, you use a lot less legwork. Today, the University of Utah showed off a new system that gets your book from the shelves.
The newest librarian at the University of Utah's J. Willard Marriott Library doesn't have any personality, but it sure has a knack for tracking books. The library's new Automated Retrieval Center, or ARC, is the largest library robotic storage and retrieval system in North America.
With a simple click at a computer anywhere, students, faculty or any patron with privileges can set this robotic librarian in motion. "All they need to do is hit the request button. That sends an immediate message to the machinery. The machines pull the bin that item is located in. Library staffers have that book delivered to a pick-up location for users within five minutes," explained Ian Godfrey, facilities manager for the J. Willard Marriott Library.
The ARC stores one million items in a three-and-a-half story, high-density shelving area. There's room for two million.
Patrons don't have to wander the library's 65 linear miles of shelves. They can pick up the book right inside the door. "They only need to walk in 50 feet to the pick-up location to get the material they're after," Godfrey said.
"It's very efficient. It is very easy for users, rather than needing to browse our aisles," explained Heidi Brett, with the university library. With less walking and searching involved, she says students will have more time to read.
Also, by moving one-third of the entire collection into the ARC, they've freed up 80,000 square feet of shelf space. They can now use that space for other high-tech educational purposes. "We're adding nine new classrooms, a 26,000-square-foot knowledge commons, and we've significantly expanded our special collections area," Godfrey said.
The most commonly circulated items are still on the shelves because patrons still like to browse, and even in the age of electronic information, the library will always need room for special collections and rare books. "A lot of our acquisitions are electronic driven, but we always will have print material," Godfrey said.
The $12 million automated library system is part of the overall library renovation, including seismic retrofitting that will be complete next fall.
