Dear Susan
Horizontal storage is the most efficient way of storing maps. You may
need to go three high and if possible look at the size of the cabinets
and the drawers within. In my institution we stack the cabinets three
high, giving a total height from the floor of 2.58 metres. We have ten
drawers to each cabinet, each cabinet being 48 cm. Our stacks are on an
electric compactus which, with the higher height, has allowed us to
house more cabinets in a smaller space. The front row of the stacks is
two high, which can then be used as a work surface. We also have our
cabinets back to back in their rows, so that there are three rows of
stack to every two access rows. Also, with the cabinets on the
compactus you only need one access row per every five rows of cabinets!
You do need a reinforced floor to take the compactus and the tracks need
to be cut into the floor. A photographic essay of our stack arrangement
appeared in a WAML bulletin some years ago. If you are interested I can
either forward images or find the correct reference.
I do know of some libraries that use vertiplans to store their maps.
You need to strip each map and if they are heavy will stretch. Some of
the cabinets can be quite heavy and consequently there can be OHS issues
in accessing them.
Yours sincerely
Maura O'Connor
Map Curator
National Library of Australia
Canberra ACT 2600
Phone : 61 2 6262 1280
Fax: 61 2 6161 1653
Email : [log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for issues related to map & spatial data librarianship
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Susan Tarrant
Sent: Tuesday, 31 August 2004 8:51 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Space efficient map storage
We are at present involved in a major reorganization of library stock
and it looks as though our Map Collection may have to be stored in a
somewhat smaller space. Could any-one recommend a space efficient
storage method. At the moment we have mainly horizontal storage chests
with space for laying maps out on top.
Can anything be gained from a vertical storage system?
Many thanks,
Susan Tarrant
Academic Liaison Librarian: Geography
Senate House Library
University of London
Malet Street
LONDON WC1E 7HU
www.shl.lon.ac.uk
020 7862 8451
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