The University of Utah's biggest library, called Marriott Library, has installed a $12 million ROBOTIC STORAGE SYSTEM. Instead of storing books on shelves accessible to humans, the system puts them in bins that are stacked 3 1/2 stories high. The benefit is that it enables the library to expand their collections without the construction costs of an entirely new building. The system holds 2 million books.
10:45 AM * PERMALINK * 5 comments
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Comments:
About 10 years ago I had one of these that sorted backup tapes, it's hypnotic and very cool to watch. Clearly the variable size, weight, and texture of books makes this a much more complex task. Of course, I think I can store 2 million books on my USB flash drive so it's questionable whether it's a good investment, but there are always those who can't learn unless they have a physical book. :)
Where did I leave my Kindle...
nice to see
would be better if they buld one for students too
=)
what you should be concerned about is that you will still need a library card to get these tomes. that doesn't bode well for privacy.It will make tracking reading habits and such that much easier. those of you who don't believe this can and will happen ask yourselves why you get so much mail. real mail. hmmm....... don't fool yourselves folks they are watching everything.
Part of going to the library is browsing through the various publications. This part of a person's library experience will be lost
About 7 years ago Sonoma State University built a new library partially funded by Charles Schulz's wife (Schulz of the Peanuts comic). They built it with a system like this one, though it was mostly used for less frequently checked out materials and old circulars. I had the fortune of working in the library while it was still being filled with books, and would hang out at the viewing window of the automatic retrieval system on the 3rd floor, it was incredible to watch it work. Here is some info about that machine, http://library.sonoma.edu/about/ars.html
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