Bertrand Russell Archives Storage

Bertrand Russell Archives Storage

Apr 11, 2019

NEW LIBRARY SHELVING SHOWCASES AND PROTECTS ARCHIVES FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS

In 1968 McMaster University Library acquired the archives and personal library of famed British philosopher, social and peace activist, and Nobel Laureate, Bertrand Russell. It has since become one of their most heavily used research collections with scholars from all over the world coming to McMaster to use the archives in their research.

UNIVERSITY WORKS WITH LOCAL ARCHITECTS TO DESIGN A NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITY

In recognition of the 50th anniversary of McMaster’s acquisition of the Bertrand Russell Archives, the University worked with local architects to design a state-of-the-art facility to house the collection. The facility, located at the University’s Sterling Street entrance, was formerly a private residence that was fully renovated and converted in just nine months.

The most important part of the renovation was making sure that the archives were properly stored and protected, so they reached out to the experts at Spacesaver Solutions Inc. 

A HIGH DENSITY SYSTEM, WOOD-TEK SHELVING AND DAY USE LOCKERS PROTECT AND BEAUTIFULLY DISPLAY THE ARCHIVES

Our Storage Expert met with McMaster’s librarians to design a solution to safely house Bertrand Russell’s large and diverse archives and a significant collection of books and other published materials across three separate areas. We designed a mechanical assist high-density system, Wood-Tek 4-Post shelving, and Day Use Lockers.

The University converted what was once a garage into a secure, climate controlled room, and we installed a mechanical assist high density system with recessed rails. This system maximizes the storage space in the room while ensuring the archives are properly stored and preserved.

In the reading room and a display area, we installed Wood-Tek 4-Post shelving to beautifully house much of the book collection. This shelving is a unique blend of wood and steel, featuring a wood front for a classic look, and a non off gassing metal frame to protect the collection. The system is completely adaptable and adjusts to the Library’s changing needs as the collection grows.

For the security of the collection, the University Library’s requirements included a place for researchers to store their personal belongings while in the Archives, We designed a metal bodied locker system with high pressure laminate doors and Digilock Axis Locks. The locks can be programmed for each new person and reset for the next researcher when they’re finished.

The librarians and staff are thrilled with their new space and systems that protect and display their collection.

“The University Library has worked with Spacesaver Solutions Inc. on a number of projects over the years, but the Bertrand Russell Archives was something special. We’re delighted with the results both in the traditional compact shelving and the public areas of the archives, where the Wood-Tek shelving and Day Use Lockers allow us to showcase and protect the collection for future generations of researchers.”

- Wade Wyckoff

Associate University Librarian, Collections, McMaster University

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Artwork Archival Storage In A Bank

Artwork Archival Storage In A Bank

Mar 2, 2019

ARCHIVAL STORAGE AND ART COLLECTION STORAGE FIND AN UNLIKELY HOME – IN A BANK

When owners and collectors of fine art travel, downsize, or simply have too large of a collection to display at one time, they have a few options for storing their pieces, including private storage units or attended art storage warehouses. One of the safest and most secure options, however, is bank vault storage. Some banks offer highly protected, climate-controlled archival storage for valuables and art.

This was the case at a bank in Ontario. As a service to its clients, the bank had a secure storage facility for art and archives in the basement of an office tower. At the original facility, small archival boxes were being stored on standard static shelving. The nuts-and-bolts construction of the shelving left few options for items that weren’t a standard size and provided very limited storage space. These constraints meant that some boxes had to be stacked on the floor, putting them at risk of water damage and exposure to dust and dirt.

WOODEN BIN SYSTEM MAKES WAY FOR A MORE SECURE AND ACCESSIBLE ARCHIVAL STORAGE SYSTEM

The fine art collection storage were being stored in large wooden bins stacked two high. When owners came to access their pieces of art, the stacking made it difficult for bank employees to locate and remove the correct piece. The repeated removal and replacement of the artwork began to cause damage to the frames and surfaces – a major issue when working with valuable works. With items of various sizes and shapes, it became difficult to use the wooden bin system at all, meaning that many pieces of art had to be moved to the floor where their only protection from water damage and dust was a plastic sheet draped over the top.

The cramped space was at capacity, which meant the bank could no longer accept more clients’ artwork.  Without an internal locking or tracking system, the valuable pieces were vulnerable to security issues. To maintain top notch customer service, as well as maintain the integrity and security of the archival storage and artwork, the bank knew it was time for a newer, more accessible storage solution.

ART COLLECTION STORAGE SECURED BY AUDIT TRAIL TOUCHPAD

The staff turned to Spacesaver Solutions to partner with them in designing a new system to accommodate the needs of the bank and the art owners. Spacesaver Solutions installed an Eclipse Powered high-density mobile storage system to house the archival storage boxes. With aisles that move at the touch of a button, the system eliminates wasted space to add much-needed capacity to the storage room.

To ensure maximum security, the system is equipped with locking Audit Trail Touchpad so that the shelves can only be accessed by authorized personnel with a PIN code. In the unlikely event that an item is misplaced, Audit Trail allows the bank to track everyone who has previously accessed the shelf using a software interface.

ART RACKS PROVIDE NEEDED SECURITY, INTEGRITY, VISIBILITY AND ADDED CAPACITY

The new archival storage system also includes a water diversion kit with rubber gaskets that cover all panel gaps. In the case of a leak or sprinkler system use, the archive boxes will stay dry and undamaged inside the shelves.

To accommodate pieces of artwork as large as 6 feet x 8 feet, Spacesaver Solutions suggested Spacesaver Art Racks. Artwork can be rearranged on the racks as needed, and the shelves slide apart to provide both added capacity and maximum visibility to help staff locate pieces.

CLIENTS CAN REST ASSURED THAT THEIR TREASURED ART COLLECTIONS AND MEMORIES ARE SAFE

With the new storage system in place, the bank is poised to provide exceptional security and customer service for clients. Employees spend less time searching for items, and with 60% more space created by the new archival storage, the work environment is much less cramped. Most important, clients can rest assured that their treasured collections and memories are safe, protected from damage, and can be quickly located when needed.

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Canadian War Museum

Canadian War Museum

Feb 22, 2019

HAND CRANK COMPACT STORAGE LEADS TO ARTIFACT PRESERVATION AT CANADIAN WAR MUSEUM

The Canadian War Museum is Canada’s national museum of military history. It’s also the world’s most respected museum for studying armed conflict.

Tracing back to its origins in 1880, the museum holds more than three million artifacts from around the globe. This includes rare vehicles, medals, uniforms, artillery, personal memoirs, and 13,000 works in the Beaverbrook Collection of War Art.

For their 125th anniversary, the museum celebrated with a new facility to better store and display their collections. The new Canadian War Museum would be 440,000 square-feet and would feature artifacts ranging in size from buttons to airplanes. The ideal storage solution would need to ensure preservation and accessibility for a wide range of collections.

Custom Storage Solutions For Special Collections

Even with such a large building, maximizing storage was still a high priority. The Collections Managers knew the artifact inventory would increase, and they wanted to plan for this growth so they reached out to the Storage Experts for help.

Hand Crank Compact Storage Creates Space in the Equipment Vault

The Equipment Vault holds everything from tanks and vehicle components to cannons and munitions. To store these large, heavy items, we installed a hand crank compact storage system to maximize space.

“Without the mobile system we would have needed a room three times larger.”

- John Corneil

Head of Collections Information, Canadian War Museum

Art Rack Storage for 1,300 Pieces in the Paintings Vault

We installed 90 floor-mounted, mobile art racks to store a fine art collection for over 1,300 pieces. The mobile art racks offer twice the amount of storage as traditional shelving by placing art on each side of the rack. Pieces that were too large to fit on the rack were unframed, removed, and rolled on large diameter tubes to prevent cracking. The tubes were then placed on specially designed cantilever shelving with easy access by a crane arm.

Heavy Duty Static Shelving in Secure Arms Vault

The Secure Arms Vault stores 4,000 long arms, 2,000 handguns, body armour, swords, helmets, military models, and thousands of weapons in different sizes and weight. Storing all these items needs a very customized storage solution. Our Storage Experts designed a compact mobile storage system with doors, drawers, and other features to give added protection to each artifact. Wide span shelving was also placed into a mobile system to accommodate heavier items.

Visual Storage in Dress and Insignia Vault

Inside the Dress and Insignia Vault, we installed high density mobile storage systems. These systems hold military planning toy soldiers, rolled textiles, regimental and battle flags, and other artifacts of various shapes and sizes. To securely store these artifacts in one central place, the mobile systems feature drawers, doors, and static shelving. The organization of this area is so impressive that windows were installed in the vault to let visitors get a peak behind the scenes.

Higher Security for Living History Vault

Lastly, the Living History vault is a cross-section of all the other vaults in the Museum. It requires higher security for the items inside so we designed a self-sealing system. It compresses against one wall and features a lockable end unit that complies with the Canadian Fire Arms Act.

“I keep coming back to the fact that we would have needed twice the footprint or more without the compact storage, With a good mobile system, your construction costs are down, materials are down, and building maintenance and upkeep costs are lower for many years to come.”

- John Corneil

Head of Collections Information, Canadian War Museum

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The Flamborough Archives Storage

The Flamborough Archives Storage

Feb 22, 2019

POWERED MOBILE SYSTEM ALLOWS FOR SAFE ARCHIVE STORAGE AND EASY ACCESSIBILITY

The Flamborough Archives is run by volunteers who collect and preserve archival material relating to the history, people, buildings, and communities within the area of Flamborough. The Flamborough Archives needed help with archive storage as they had to move out of their building so that it could be torn down and rebuilt as a beautiful new multipurpose municipal space.

The main challenge was that the new space was going to be smaller than what they had before. They needed help fitting everything into the space so they called the experts at Spacesaver Solutions Inc.

CUSTOMIZED STORAGE SOLUTIONS FOR SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

Spacesaver Solutions Inc. worked with Flamborough Archives to create a system that would meet all of their needs, while staying within a strict budget. Our Storage Experts designed a unique solution that would hold different archival material – everything from records to artwork, safely within the system.

We provided a Powered Eclipse High Density Storage System with custom wood panels made from local reclaimed wood. On the back wall of the Flamborough Archives storage area is an art rack that holds precious artwork.

In addition to the high-density archive storage system, we also provided an archival documents move service to ensure that everything was properly transported and placed carefully into the new system.

The Flamborough Archives staff were so thrilled with the end result and our work, that they wrote a beautiful thank you note.

“On behalf of Lyn, the volunteers at the Flamborough Archives and myself, I want to thank you for all the work you undertook to produce our beautiful mobile storage system – it is truly wonderful and we are all ‘in love with it’.

I also want to thank you and everyone at Spacesaver Solutions Inc. for your patience with the Heritage Society in the length of time it took to complete the project – I know it was entirely beyond our control, but like us, at times you must have wondered if it would ever end.

Please convey to Ms. Indira our appreciation of her contribution to the project – she exhibited the highest professionalism in all her dealings with Lyn and I from the very beginning with the organization, dealing with all the frustrations and complications of the move out of Hamilton to being on hand to see us come back to Waterloo.

Finally, Lyn and I want to express our thanks to the four young men who moved the Archives – they worked extremely hard over the two days, were always polite, accommodating, and careful with our holdings and furniture. They are to be congratulated for their work ethic.

Again, thank you to everyone involved with the project.”

- Sylvia Wray

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Royal Ontario Museum Storage

Royal Ontario Museum Storage

Feb 22, 2019

MODERN MUSEUM STORAGE PROTECTS AND DISPLAYS MINERALOGY COLLECTION

The ROM recently received a very generous donation of a one-of-a-kind mineral and ore collection from exploratory geologist Douglas Kirwin. The Kirwin Collection is an astounding assortment of 21,000 specimens weighing in at 10 tonnes.

However, before the ROM was able to accept the collection, they had to significantly update and increase their storage capacity at the museum. So they reached out to the experts at Spacesaver Solutions for help. Working with the ROM, our experts designed a modern storage area that would house, protect, and display the museum’s mineralogy collection.

SPECIALLY DESIGNED CABINETS, SHELVING, AND WORKTABLES

The storage solution consists of high density carriage system with custom designed steel museum cabinets, heavy-duty shelving for oversized and bulky items, and worktables. The design also includes specially designed cabinets with glass doors and lighting to create “visible storage”.

MOVING TONNES OF MINERALS WITH THE TURN OF A HANDLE

The high density systems allow ROM staff to move literally tonnes of minerals with a simple turn of the handle. Each cabinet is filled with up to 50 pull out trays which are designed to hold up to 70lbs each.

VISIBLE STORAGE IS THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE SYSTEM

The highlight of the system is the “visible storage” units designed with full glass doors and LED back lighting. These units provide the opportunity for staff to share the collection with students and visitors without having to handle the collection. These cabinets are part of the teaching lab where different groups come to learn about and research mineralogy.

THE LARGEST SINGLE ACQUISITION IN THE ROM’S EARTH SCIENCE’S HISTORY

“The Kirwin Collection acquisition is the largest single acquisition in the ROM’s Earth Science’s history. The timing is significant too, the collection came in our centennial year, a time where we are not only reflecting on the past, but looking forward to the next 100 years. Integrating our new collection in with our existing collections in museum cabinets installed by Spacesaver Solutions has been integral to this project and will protect our Earth Science collection into the next century”

- Kim Tait

Teck Endowed Chair of Mineralogy

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