Annex Expansion Project:
FAQ's About the Move to the Expanded Annex
1. How many books will be moved to the expanded Annex?
The moving project is designed to efficiently transfer one million volumes from libraries on campus to the Annex. At a rate of about 2,000 books each work day, this process will take two years. After the year 2000, books and other items will be transferred steadily until the original and the new Annex are filled to capacity. The original Annex houses about one million volumes and the new Annex will accommodate about 1.5 million additional volumes. The Library Administration estimates that a new Annex module will be needed before 2007.
2. When did the move to the expanded Annex begin?
The move of library books and other materials to the Annex began at the end of May 1998.
3. What is the current status of the move?
As of April 12, 2000, the status for all libraries involved in the project was as follows:
| Library | Items Moved | Status | Comments | ||
| Engineering | 70,674 | completed | |||
| Fine Arts | 37,819 | completed | |||
| Geneva | 1,228 | completed | |||
| Hotel | 2,965 | completed | |||
| ILR | 17,132 | completed | |||
| Management | 43,665 | completed | |||
| Mann | 132,986 | completed | |||
| Music | 2,723 | completed | |||
| Olin | 547,400 | completed | |||
| Physical Sciences | 16,371 | completed |
4. How can I know exactly which books will be transferred from each library?
If you want to know exactly what has been selected, you should consult with the selector responsible for the subject area (refer to the list of selectors). The selectors for some libraries, especially the smaller ones, reviewed a wide variety of materials item-by-item and made their decisions. Because more than a half million volumes will be transferred from Olin, a special selection strategy was used for the Olin collection.
Also, the location listed in the online catalog is changed to "Annex" each Friday for all items moved during the previous week.
5. What exactly will be moved from Olin?
In Olin, it was not humanly or economically feasible to select 547,400 volumes and make item-by-item decisions. A strategy was developed to use a computer-generated list of items with imprint dates of 1992 and earlier that have not circulated online. No journals or other multi-volume works, such as two-volume monographs, are included. However, it is important for you to know that a large number of the older volumes in the social sciences and humanities, added to the Olin collection prior to 1973, lack computerized catalog records and barcodes. Because items are shelved in trays at the new Annex and retrieved by barcode number, these older unbarcoded items will not be transferred to the Annex at this time.
6. If online circulation and other criteria are being used to select materials for transfer, what will happen to items I use in the library and do not check out?
You should talk to the selector for the subject area because the library staff may not know about items that you use frequently, but do not check out (see the list of selectors).
7. How do I make sure that anything my students need to use during the semester is not transferred?
The best way for you to make sure that everything your students need to use is available on campus is to for you and your students to consult with the librarian responsible for selecting materials in your subject area (see the list of selectors).
8. The Library's publicity about the Annex talks about infrequently used material. What do you mean by this?
The staff planning the new Annex are as anxious as you are to keep material that is used here on campus. We recommend that items you need to consult once every two or three years should not be transferred, but items you use every five years or more should be considered for transfer to make room on the library's shelves for newer titles.
9. Why can't you put a note in the records in the public catalog so I can see what has been selected?
This is one of several strategies for reviewing material that was proposed in 1997 and rejected. Putting notes and codes in the main library database, which runs in a system that is about 20 years old, is hazardous to the health of the records. Changing data and altering fields can result in bad data in the public catalog and will significantly increase the risk that items will be lost or incorrectly recorded. The Library is currently evaluating new computer systems in order to replace NOTIS by the year 2000.
10. Why don't you put flyers in the books so I can see what is to be transferred?
In a few collections, the flyer method was used last spring and summer. The project staff strongly discouraged this approach in larger collections because flyers get lost. In other university libraries staff told us that flyers turn up later as grocery lists, bookmarks, and notes to friends. We decided to use more permanent methods of recording selection decisions.
11. How will the staff know when something is used more than anyone expected and it should be brought back to campus?
The computerized inventory control system for the Annex has a feature that will alert the staff when an item circulates three times. A notice will be sent to the selector so that he/she will decide whether or not to return it to campus.
12. What if I want to prevent some material from being transferred?
If after reading the answer to question 8 above, you want to make a case for keeping an item on campus, you should contact the selector for the subject area (see the list of selectors). He/she will ask you to name the item and give a reason. In most libraries, the selector will need to do some paperwork to make the change. In Olin Library, the selector will likely recommend that you charge the item out to yourself and return it. This will prevent the item from appearing on the selection list. If you use this strategy (we hope judiciously) you need to watch the notices about the dates when extracts and selection lists will be run and when transfers will be made. If you find that something you need has been transferred, it is not difficult to bring it back. Again, you need to talk with the selector for the subject area.