[DCRM-L] Criteria for identifying books needing flat shelving

[Jennifer K. Nelson]

Hi Kate,

We shelve everything 31 cm and over flat. Their location code is 
indicated as "folio" in the catalog and on the call number slip in the 
book. Strictly speaking this is an incorrect definition of "folio" 
because it refers to size (31 cm and over) as opposed to format of the 
book, although the two often coincide. I can't give you that detailed a 
description of the criteria since we've always shelved them this way 
(way before I got here), but it has to do with the weight of the text 
block, and how much stress is put on the spine if the heavy book is 
standing upright.

Jenny

On 6/8/2009 9:30 AM, Kate Moriarty wrote:
> Hello, All,
>
> We are looking at reconfiguring our rare book stacks and are starting 
> to address how we shelve very large pre-1820 volumes. We shelve our 
> pre-1820 volumes according to format and currently have three areas: 
> 1) 12mos and smaller, 2) 4tos and 8vos, and 3) folios. We're going to 
> have to create a fourth area for volumes that are large enough to 
> require flat shelving. Is there a measurement cut-off point that 
> people use to identify books requiring flat shelves? A height at which 
> books really should not be shelved vertically? We're considering going 
> with flat shelving for anything that is 44 cm. or larger. Of course, 
> if a book is shorter than that but in bad condition we'll also 
> consider flat shelving.
>
> Thanks for your help,
>
> Kate
>
> -- 
> Kate S. Moriarty, MSW, MLS  |  Rare Book Catalog Librarian  |  Pius 
> XII Memorial Library  |  
> Saint Louis University  |  3650 Lindell Blvd . |  St. Louis, MO 63108 
>  |  (314) 977-3098 (tel)  |  (314) 977-3108 (fax)  |  moriarks at slu.edu 
> <mailto:moriarks at slu.edu>  |  http://libraries.slu.edu/

-- 
Jennifer K. Nelson
Reference Librarian
The Robbins Collection
UC Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall)
Berkeley, CA 94720
Tel: 510.643.9709
Fax: 510.642.8325
jnelson at law.berkeley.edu
www.law.berkeley.edu/library/robbins/