Building Expansion/Renovation Project: What is the ARC?

ARC stands for Automated Retrieval Collection. It is a high density storage unit that will eliminate the need for collections to be housed remotely, and will satisfy growth demands for many decades. The least used items in the Library's collections will be placed in bins in the ARC while heavily used materials remain in open shelves for easy access. If demand for any titles in the ARC increases, they can be moved back to open shelf storage easily and efficiently. To preserve collections, the ARC will operate in a controlled environment with proper humidity and temperature, as well as protection from dust and other contaminants. The ARC will greatly increase the space for seating and allow the entire building to be open and welcoming.
 
To obtain an item in the ARC, a patron simply places a request through the Library's online catalog, which communicates with the ARC's robotized retrieval system. In most instances, the item will be waiting for the patron at Circulation in the time it takes to walk to the desk. When items are checked in, the Library's computer system identifies which should be returned to the ARC. The ARC's computer assigns items to bins of appropriate sizes, maximizing space utilization, and records the location of all items for rapid retrieval.
 
In a typical Library system, the ARC can store 450,000 volumes in an area that requires only 1/7 of the space of conventional shelving and at substantial cost savings. On a 25-year life cycle cost basis, the ARC is conservatively one-half the cost of a conventional solution. More on the ARC.

Anyone interested in learning more about the ARC or the any other part of the Library construction project, may contact Associate Dean Ann Hamilton at 681-5115 or ahamilton@georgiasouthern.edu.
 

FEATURES

1/7 of the space needed for conventional shelving
Compact modular design
State-of-the-art computer design
Retrieval in minutes versus days for off-site depots
Automated operation
99+% inventory and tracking accuracy
Secure control of archived and popular items
Heavy duty bins
Environmentally controlled
Ergonomically designed workstations
Fully integrated with the circulation system

BENEFITS

Reduced construction costs
Most efficient cube utilization of space available
Redundant computers assure high availability
Improved customer service
Reduced staffing requirements
Greatly reduces lost items
Access to all holdings is controlled and tracked
Reduced product damage
Elimination of dust, moisture and temperature damage
Reduces operator lifting and stress
Transparent to the customer, communicates with existing Library circulation systems

Libraries with ARCs

University California at Northridge
Eastern Michigan University
Sonoma State University
University of Nevada - Las Vegas
U.S. Army Publications Center
U.S. Department of Defense
U.S. National Archives *
Chicago State University *
Valparaiso University *
2004 Installation *

Henderson Library recently changed from the print versions of the Mergent's series of manuals to Mergent Online. Mergent Online content includes U.S. Company Data, International Company Data, U.S. Annual Reports, and International Annual Reports. Detailed company and financial data may be found for more than 30,000 U.S. public and international companies, exceeding the content of the print manuals. Basic and advanced search capabilities offer easy access to SEC filings, as well as historical and current annual reports. It is easy to generate multiple customized company reports, or use one of six pre-defined company reports, each available in PDF, MS Word or MS Excel. With expanded access to financial footnotes, you can display and export company financials complete with footnotes. Mergent Online covers fifteen years of rolling financial data. Faculty and students can access Mergent Online from GALILEO or from the Library Catalog. Off-campus access requires the GALILEO password. In addition, faculty can create direct links to Mergent Online from web pages, course management applications, or a course syllabus by using GALILEO Express Links. Call Bob Fernekes (x7822) for more information about Mergent Online including the creation of direct links from specific applications or to schedule a demonstration for a department or class.


BNA Human Resources Library covers a broad range of relevant federal and state laws and regulations for personnel management. Continuously updated topics include compensation, payroll administration, benefits, workers' compensation, employee conduct, performance appraisal, occupational health and safety, ethics, and workplace discrimination. Due to publisher restrictions in the licensing agreement, access to BNA Human Resources Library is available from designated Henderson Library workstations only. Ask at the Reference Desk for assistance in accessing this resource. For more information about BNA Human Resources Library, call Bob Fernekes at x7822.

International Medieval Bibliography-Online, the online version of the print title, indexes articles on medieval subjects, and covers all aspects of medieval studies within the period 450 to 1500 for Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Faculty and students can access the International Medieval Bibliography-Online from GALILEO or from the Library Catalog. Off-campus access requires the GALILEO password. In addition, faculty can create direct links to this resource from web pages, course management applications, or a course syllabus by using GALILEO Express Links.

Effective January 2005, OCLC, the world's largest library vendor, will expand its Open WorldCat pilot project into an ongoing service making public and academic library holdings easily accessible through the World Wide Web. OCLC is opening WorldCat's entire collection of 53.3 million catalog records connected to 928.6 million library holdings for "harvesting" by the Google and Yahoo! search engines. OCLC's decision follows a highly successful pilot program, during which there were as many as 3 million monthly clicks to WorldCat records from search engine partners Google and Yahoo! Search. In effect, Google and Yahoo! will become online library catalogs as well as Web search engines.
 
With all WorldCat records available on the Web, coverage increases from 2 million records to 53.3 million records. Making library holdings easier to find on the World Wide Web will increase direct borrowing and interlibrary loaning as people discover what is available in public and university libraries.

Service to Georgia Southern and its library, as well as church and community, are nothing new to Dr. Alvin L. McLendon, but have been constant themes of his life. He grew up in Dawson, county seat of Terrell County, but on attaining college age, he moved to Americus to attend the nearest school, Georgia Southwestern College. This college had begun, like Georgia Southern, as an A&M School, but was authorized at that time as only a two-year institution. Desiring a career in science education, McLendon was assured a job on campus by President Marvin Pittman while he completed his B.S. (Class of 1939) at what was then South Georgia Teachers College. One job was daily sweeping and weekly mopping of the floor in the dining room at Old Anderson Hall. He remembers that during his time here, the library moved from the top floor of the Adminstration Building to the new Rosenwald Building. He met his future second wife, Hassie McElveen, then an assistant librarian, during his first quarter. (She was Head Librarian here from 1944 to 1970.) He took one course taught by Dean Zach S. Henderson. His practice-teaching took place in what was known as "The New Laboratory School," later Marvin Pittman Laboratory School, and he also supervised the teaching of other students. Determined to achieve the ultimate degree in science education, he obtained his Master's at Peabody in 1942, another Master's at Oklahoma State University in 1957, and his doctorate at Auburn in 1968. As well as marriage and family, various teaching jobs had been interspersed with this advancing education: at high schools in Fitzgerald and Metter, at the Army Specialized Training Program in Louisiana during World War II, as Principal of Statesboro High School (1945-1949), and as a public relations agent for Bethany Homes for Women in Vidalia. In 1958, he was one of 13 original faculty members of Columbus College, a new two-year college housed in a restored hosiery mill. He stayed at Columbus for twenty years, retiring in 1978. Dr. McLendon has been active in the Kiwanis since retirement and has also busied himself with charitable concerns of the Primitive Baptist Church.

Since the death of his wife, Hassie McElveen McLendon, he has maintained the fund to buy artworks for the library which Mrs. McLendon named, in honor of her mother, the Naomi Davis McElveen Art Collection. The 1966 portrait of Dr. Zach S. Henderson which hangs in the library's foyer was the first of a number of paintings and prints which have come to us as part of this collection. Dr. McLendon admits that, unlike his late wife, he was never much of a bookworm.