Seminar on preparing for and using a remote storage facility

Koninklijke Bibliotheek, the National Library of the Netherlands, The Hague, 18-19 November 2019

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The session is intended for high-level staff in libraries that are in the process of storing (part of) their collections in a remote facility. We envisage about an hour for each theme, each time staring with a short presentations followed by a group discussion.

Chairman for the day: Dr Ulrich Niederer, formerly of the ZHB Luzern, and still actively involved in the Kooperative Speicherbibliothek Schweiz. He opens the seminar with a reflection on Why consider remote storage?

Planning for it
1. Specifications, climate control, contractors, etc.
Introducing the topic: Foekje Boersma, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, the National Library of the Netherlands, also raising the issue of passive climate control.

2. Collaborative storage, potential partners, funding, agreements, etc.
Introducing the topic: Hilde Van Kiel, KU Leuven Libraries, including a few words on the Heritage Lab, planned for thirteen Flemish heritage institutions.

3. Criteria for deciding what goes in and what doesn’t, special collections or not?
Introducing the topic of selection criteria: Ophélie Ramonatxo, Bibliothèque nationale de France

Evening: Conference dinner at your own cost

Moving to the remote storage
4. Preparations for actual move, incl. cataloguing/inventory issues, preservations issues, shelving plan etc.
Introducing the topic: Toby Kirtley, Estates Projects Officer & Health and Safety Lead, Bodleian Libraries, who worked on their Swindon facility

5. The actual move, contractors, unpacking the materials in the new storage area
Introducing the topic:

Working with the remote storage in place
6. Workflows. Getting the items out of storage (and returning them there), and service to reading rooms (+ communicating about this to users)
Introducing the topic: a representative of the British Library

7. Security issues, e.g. related to transport, drivers/vans, routes, disaster planning
Introducing the topic: Jacqueline Lambert, Royal Library, Brussels, will explore the 'what if' hazard analysis model often used in technical/ industrial engineering with the workshop participants

Lunch for seminar participants 13:00-14:00

Registration: Please send a message to marian.lefferts@cerl.org

Costs: a small registration fee to cover the catering costs (Euro 25 for CERL members, and Euro 40 for non-members). You will need to make your own travel arrangements. Suggested hotels (hopefully at preferential rates) will be posted here.

Directions: https://www.kb.nl/en/visitors/address-and-directions