Accessioning Procedures for Books
1. Receipt of materials
A. Shipping
Materials being shipped to WRLC for storage will be boxed and will be unboxed after receipt.
B. Delivery
Office Movers Express or Runners picks up materials from libraries that have boxes awaiting to be picked up.
C. Unpacking
-Materials will normally be unpacked on a first in, first out basis.
-In cases where materials cannot all be placed in the staging area, those materials staged in parts of the processing work area outside the staging area will be unpacked first.
-In cases where the priorities noted above need to be altered, WRLC’s Storage Facility Supervisor will indicate which materials are to receive priority in unpacking.
-Library materials will normally be transferred to acid-free trays for shelving in the storage facility, and will therefore be unboxed prior to processing.
-Materials will be removed from the delivery cartons and placed on book trucks.
-Materials will be sorted by size when being placed on the book trucks and or shelves in the processing area.
2. Preparation of storage trays
A. Tray design
-The WRLC Storage Facility is designed to achieve maximum density in the storage of library materials by using trays specifically designed to fit into the shelving scheme to hold the materials. Trays are modular in design; a standard size shelf can accept any size tray and be completely filled, with no space wasted.
-There are six sizes of trays. The sizes are: A, B, C, D, E and H. Five are open-sided trays intended for books, records, and similar materials. The sixth is an open-topped box intended for papers and other materials which are not self-supporting and cannot stand in the open-sided trays.
-The width of the trays determine the maximum width (when viewed from the front) of the materials that can be stored within them. The Maximum height of the materials is determined by the shelf size on which the tray is to be placed.
B. Assembling trays
-Trays will be assembled for each days processing according to the estimate quantities required. WRLC staff will normally provide an estimate of the necessary quantities of each type, and will print labels for the required trays. The labels will include: shelf location (human readable); shelf location (barcode); tray size and shelf height. Staff assembling trays will use the tray size information on the labels to determine which type of tray each label is to be used with.
-Trays are designed so that they can be assembled by folding; no adhesive is required.
-Plastic handles need to be inserted in one end of each tray. For trays of size C, D, E and H washers will be inserted on the inner ends of the handles.
-Trays will have the three labels placed on the same end as the handle.
3. Sorting materials
A. Based on size
-Materials being shelved in trays will need to be sorted by size to maximize the use of storage space.
B. Using the template
-Materials will be placed in trays based on their width and height, as viewed from the front. A template will be used to determine the proper size tray for each item.
-Items are placed on the template, and tray size is indicated by the lines they most closely fit within. If an item’s height or width exceeds a line by any margin at all, the next largest line will be used for determining tray size.
C. Tray labels
-Each tray will have a label indicating the tray size (used to determine maximum width of the item) and the shelf height (used to determine the maximum height). As the same tray size can be used on two or more different height shelves it is essential that both these parameters be taken into account in the sorting of materials.
-Tray size is indicated by the letter assigned to each tray design. For open-sided trays, the letters run from A for the smallest size to E for the largest. The template will match item width to tray size using these letters. (Tray H is an open topped box used for special type of material.)
-Shelf height is indicated on the template by a number representing the inches between shelves for the given height. Note that a 12” shelf does not have 12” of usable space (due to the shelf lip). The template should be followed exactly in determining the maximum height for items being placed in a given tray to prevent items being damaged due to contact with the shelf lip when sliding a tray on and off the shelf.
-When working with trays intended for a given shelf, start with the highest tray number (e.g. R05M11S07T12). The highest numbers will be placed at the back of the shelf and should be filled and shelved first.
Tray sizes and height in inches
• A09 A10 A11 A12
• B11 B12
• C12 C13
• D13 D14
• E16 E18 E20
• H12 H14 H18