"Goodbye Doesn’t Mean Forever:" Selection Strategies for the Transfer of Slavic to Off-Site Remote Storage

Abstract

The 21st century American research library faces a serious housing crisis. Today more than ever libraries must balance patrons’ needs for access with the responsibility of preserving and storing the deluge of published material. In response to the storage crisis, several of the nation’s top research libraries have constructed off-site, high-density shelving facilities. This paper first summarizes the discussion about the nature and function of these facilities. The paper goes on to document a case-study of how the Slavic collections at the University of Kansas Libraries addressed this issue. The case-study consists of four sections: 1) a brief description of the KU Annex, KO Libraries’ particular space issues, and the “Dewey” and “LC” reclassification project; 2) criteria for selection of Russian literary text for storage and implementation of those criteria; 3) problems and challenges encountered during the process; and 4) the importance of engaging faculty directly in the selection process. A summary of “lessons learned” concludes the case study.