Η ρομποτική στην υπηρεσία των βιβλιοθηκών

Μια νέα εποχή εγκαινιάζει για τις βιβλιοθήκες το Πανεπιστήμιο του Σικάγου, καθώς ρομπότ - γερανοί ανασύρουν σε λιγότερο από πέντε λεπτά οποιοδήποτε βιβλίο ζητούν οι αναγνώστες, από τις βάθους 15 μέτρων αποθήκες της Βιβλιοθήκης «Τζο και Ρίκα Μανσουέτο» του Πανεπιστημίου

>> Above ground, the new Joe and Rika Mansueto Library at the University

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of Chicago is a sunlit dome of glass and steel,

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but the library's key innovation is its automated storage and retrieval system,

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housed in the larger underground space that extends 50 feet underground

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and can hold the equivalent of 3.5 million volumes.

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This high-density storage space takes inspiration

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from commercial inventory techniques, applying them to the needs of one

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of the world's great research libraries.

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The system [beeping] keeps books, journals, and special holdings

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in optimum preservation conditions and can retrieve them within minutes for library users.

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It will allow the University of Chicago to keep book collections in a central location,

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readily available for scholars in many fields.

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Here's how it works.

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First, library staff members load items into bins based on size using bar codes

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that allow the system to track each item's location.

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Each bin holds about 100 books or journal volumes.

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In all, the system contains 24,000 bins, kept in 12 columns of metal racks

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that extend the full length of the library.

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Library users discover and request items using the online catalog.

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Any user with a computer and an Internet connection can make a request from anywhere

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on campus or from the other side of the world.

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The request activates Mansueto's underground storage and retrieval system.

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It uses five mechanized cranes, which are 50 feet tall

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and custom designed to move among the ten columns.

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One of the cranes [beeping] automatically retrieves the bin with the requested item

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and lifts it to the ground floor circulation service center.

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After a staff member retrieves and scans the item, the system sends an e-mail to the user

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that requested it [beep], indicating that the item is ready

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for pickup and will be held for seven days.

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The whole process is designed to take less than five minutes.

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So users who make a request from the central Regenstein Library are likely

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to find the book waiting for them by the time they've walked across the bridge to Mansueto.

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When the library user returns a book, a staff member scans it into the automated storage

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and retrieval software [beep], which summons the appropriate bin.

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After the staff member has placed the book in the bin and completed the transaction,

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the system is prepared to retrieve it again upon request.