Paula Hammett & Sandra Heft Automated Storage & Retrieval System & the Link to III IUG Boston, 2004 (E7)

Sonoma State University Library Jean & Charles Schulz Information Center, Rohnert Park, CA (45 mi N of San Francisco) 1 of 23 campuses of California State University System Public liberal arts and sciences 6996 FTES Collection size ~650,000

When you run out of room… Stop buying materials or weed heavily. Install open compact shelving. Use off site storage. “dead” storage - items unavailable retrievable remote storage Build a much larger building with more shelving and lots of room for growth. Construction of our new building was approved at state level only if we employed space-saving mechanisms. Or, you can build an… You can…

Automated Storage & Retrieval System A random-access, on-site robotic storage & retrieval system linked to the Innovative online catalog We call it an ARS (automated retrieval system) to: De-emphasize the storage. Emphasize the retrieval. (Students call it Snoopy)

Advantages requires 1/7th footprint of open stacks. easy to track use patterns. efficient for staff use. encourages active current collection in open stacks. allows retention of lesser- used material. lower construction costs. it’s expandable--more aisles can be added by taking out small parking lot behind building. can foster cooperative collection development with other institutions. allows for last copy storage of printed journals for consortia. used often in industry; now expanding into libraries.

Potential disadvantages Vulnerable to power outages. Need backup plan. Rare mechanical breakdown or maintenance downtime. Good training allows onsite staff to troubleshoot, repair, maintain system Occasional misplaced item. Transaction reports usually help find it. Regular bin inventories during off times are done to consolidate bins and verify accuracy.

What does it look like? 3-story room. 45’ x 110’ sq.ft. footprint. Public viewing windows. >750,000-item capacity. Other libraries have up to 2 million items. 2-hour firewalls.

6000 metal bins (2’x4’ footprint). 5 different heights: 6, 10, 12, 15, 18”. Each bin can hold 750 lbs. Bins may be divided into sectors.

3 aisles, each with own crane. 32 bays wide and 31 tiers high. 2 workstations per aisle with barcode scanners & printers. Additional terminal at Circulation Desk. Add new aisles to expand system.

What goes into the ARS? Bound periodicals. Most monographs that haven’t circulated in 5 years. Annual reviews, Advances in …, etc., which are more than 5 years old. Other low-use items. Shared resources with other California State University campuses.

The Interface to III Innovative wrote custom programming for us to create this interface. Now available as a product. Contact III for pricing information. Each installation may require some special programming. III worked directly with our ARS vendor: HK Systems, Inc., of Park City, Utah. Other vendors are available (search web for “automated storage and retrieval” for more vendor names) All installations are unique, so make sure ARS vendor and III are working with the same specifications.

How it works: for library users User looks up item in Snoopy catalog. Finds volume needed. Clicks button to request.

If all goes well… User types in name, barcode, etc., clicks Submit button. Receives “Request Accepted” message. Picks up item at Circulation Desk. Elapsed time: usually minutes.

If not, … User receives error message. Each message provides generic, but “next-step” advice to user. We customized our error messages and included code numbers to provide more specific info to staff.

How it works: Behind the scenes When user clicks on button: III software talks to HK software, sending item barcode, call number, author, and title. HK software responds to III, verifying volume is in ARS. III software prompts user for name. When user enters name and clicks Submit, ‘pick’ request is sent by III software to HK software. Both systems wait for human intervention.

How it works: for Circulation Staff Library staff requests ‘pick’ from HK computer. Robotic crane locates appropriate bin. Bin pulled & delivered to end of aisle. Staff consults pick list on HK workstation screen to verify item barcode, title, etc.

Last 4 digits of barcode written on top or face of books. Pick list identifies bin sector. Student worker pulls item from bin & inserts printed pull slip, which identifies requester on library hold shelf. Straps item into ETV carrier. ETV carrier delivers item to Circ Desk.

Tech Services responsibilities: TS currently responsible for III side, but this function will move to MilCirc from MilCat with new release. When items are transferred to ARS, staff updates bib location(s) and changes item location to one of our ARS codes: ARS, ARSCI, ARSDO, ARSJO, ARSME, ARSMF, ARSRF, ARSRG, ARSSP, ARCTH, ARSTS. This will change when function is moved to MilCirc. These codes all display as “Click to Request” in Snoopy (except special collections) but may have different loan rules. Separate item codes also allow us to keep statistics of types of materials in ARS.

TS staff also changes IMESSAGE field in item record to ‘a’ — SEND TO ARS. This code prompts III circ module to display a SEND TO ARS message to circ staff when checking in materials — our policy is to scan all materials before reshelving. This ensures ARS materials are not mis-shelved in open stacks. When items are transferred out of ARS, staff changes item location to reflect change and deletes IMESSAGE code. In the new MilCirc, ARS will be a temporary location (e.g. reserve), so item location will automatically revert to original location when item is removed from ARS & returned to open shelving.

Loading materials into the ARS Materials added to the ARS need to be scanned at the HK workstation before being placed in bin. The process ensures that the HK software knows which bin contains each stored item.

If only a few items are being loaded, Each item is scanned at HK workstation, twice. Once to tell the HK software what the barcode number, author, title, and call number are, AND Once more to tell the HK software that the item is being placed into a specific bin and sector within that bin.

Batch loading To add a large number of materials to the ARS, such as an initial load or when open stacks are too full, it is easier to add the item information first. Currently use character-based mode; will use MilCirc soon.

The SSU Initial Load: Added 200,000+ items for our initial load. Used our largest review files (60K records). Took approximately hours for each review file (1 record per second). Rapid updated each review file after it was loaded with an ‘ARS loaded’ note in the item record so we did not keep loading the same records!

Problems we’ve run into: WebOPAC says item is in ARS but it’s not. WebOPAC says item is in another location but it is in ARS. Barcode linked to wrong bib record. These are rare, human errors which we fix when we find.

User Technology Support Staff Primarily responsible for HK (i.e. mechanical) side. Lots of work on initial setup, partly due to equipment needing fine tuning & calibration. Annual maintenance contract very useful: in proactively identifying and addressing potential problems. ensuring highest safety standards are met. Some weekly routine maintenance. Minor mechanical problems ~ twice a month. Frequency between problems getting longer.

What users think: Students Students seem to love it because they don’t have to go to the shelves & look for materials--it’s delivered! Materials remaining on shelves tend to be more current or high-use items. Most students don’t mind losing stacks browsability in exchange for delivery. Users may request several items and pick them up all at once.

What users think: Faculty Initially, some not thrilled with the idea. Now, most appreciate speed of transactions & convenience of paging items from their offices. Fewer isolated concerns about losing the ability to browse shelves for monographs. Many have not yet discovered browsing capabilities on III. Appreciate ARS rather than off-site storage or heavy weeding.

What users think: Circulation Staff Circ staff appreciate the ARS because: Books are easy to retrieve & are put back in random order - no shelf reading for ARS items. They can track an item for patrons with great clarity, using the HK audits & reports. MilCirc will also offer tracking. Faster for a patron to get an item from the ARS than it is for them to retrieve it from the shelf. The system, after working out initial kinks, is extremely dependable picks per week.

What users think: Reference/Instruction Staff Have identified areas for more user instruction: Train users to “do-it-yourself” on ARS requests. ( Experimented to find best wording on request button.) Emphasize importance of using catalog. Teach call number browsing through Innovative. Customized ARS error messages explain to the user why item is not available.

What users think: ILL & LINK+ (i.e. InnReach) Staff ILL & LINK+ staff request items as they verify call numbers/circulation status on paging slips. ILL & LINK+ staff time dramatically conserved since the materials are delivered to Circ Desk. Eliminates time-consuming step of going to shelves to pull ILL requests. Mis-shelved items are minimized in ARS.

What users think: Tech Services & Circulation Working with Innovative on a number of enhancements to the interface: A better log. More user-friendly batch load process with MilCirc. Adding or deleting items via MilCirc. Allow requesting ARS items from Search/Hold in MilCirc. Requires good teamwork and open communication in order to to put the pieces in place and have it run smoothly.

Features we wish we had: Inconvenient to count internal use. Need to automatically increment the internal use counter in the item record when the item is picked from the ARS Cannot use the staff modules to request materials. e.g., to pull items from the ARS & withdraw them or transfer to non-ARS location, must use the ARS REQUEST button on the WebOPAC.(This will change with new MilCirc release.) Cannot tell by looking at an item record if it has been loaded into the ARS database. In the batch add mode, the ARS software will accept the same barcode number over and over again.

What does it cost? Construction Costs $2,057,000 Including design & training Annual Operating Costs Maint. contract 12,000 Spare parts 5,000 Staffing 46,000 Total Annual Costs ~ 63,000 (~ cents per item / year) Staffing (higher for start-up) ARS Supervisor 19,000 (LA 50%) III coordinator, etc 3,500 (tech 5%) Mechanical 6,000 (building HK software 9,500 (1 x UTS 25%) Student assistants 8,000 (1 x library’s open hours) Total staffing 46,000

Are there cost savings? Staffing/OE: Minimal additional staffing. No off-site storage costs. No courier to off-site storage. Faster reshelving. No shelf-reading. Rental income for storing for other libraries. Construction: No off-site land needed. Compressed space for storage = less square footage. Possible accommodation on existing site. Easy expansion.

Who else has one? CSU, Northridge, (1991)* Eastern Michigan University, (1998) University of Nevada, Las Vegas, (2001)* * III libraries Santa Clara University (Summer 2004)* Valparaiso University (Summer 2004)* San Francisco State University (in planning stages)* Etc…

Where do I get one? HK Systems Salt Lake City, UT Innovative Interfaces Emeryville, CA Other ASRS vendors are available, e.g. SwissLog.

For more info: Paula Hammett Collection Development & Web Coordinator Sandy Heft Technical Services Coordinator Jean & Charles Schulz Information Center Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA 94928