Shelving oversized books

We are reviewing the way that we shelve our oversized materials. We
currently shelve oversized books at the end of each call number category
(i.e. at the end of the "A's", "B's", etc.) because users can browse the
holdings more easily.  However, the space allotted these oversized
materials is difficult to keep orderly and as a result, the books seem
to suffer more wear and tear than they should. None of these materials
are rare or of artifactual significance--they are part of our
circulating collection (although they are rarely charged from the
library because of their size).  None the less, we would like to keep
them in as good repair as possible.

We are interested in how your library's oversized shelving arrangement
deals with the following:

    Space (we don't have a lot of free space)
    Neatness
    Ease of pulling and reshelving
    Preservation of the materials
    Do you shelve such books upright or on their sides?
    Do you shelve them in a separate physical location?
    Do you use special shelving or adapt your regular shelving in a
        particular way?

I am interested in your input from a practical preservation point of
view.  Thanks.

Caroline Gilderson-Duwe
Preservation Dept.
Golda Meir Library
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
414-229-6726
Fax: 414-229-6791

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                   Conservation DistList Instance 8:8
                  Distributed: Tuesday, July 19, 1994
                        Message Id: cdl-8-8-010
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