Navigation in the Library Stacks

Client

Matt Connolly, Cornell University Library
Email: <mjc12@cornell.edu>

Additional Client Contact

Dan Blackaby, Cornell University Library
Email: <drb327@cornell.edu>

Student contact

Zheng Fu <zf38@cornell.edu> is setting up a team for this project. If you are interested in joining the team, please contact him.

Background

The overall goal of this project is to help patrons of the Cornell University Library locate items in the book stacks.

The client writes, "The Library has explored means of navigating the stacks over the years, most commonly looking at the feasibility of using stack maps to highlight a book's location, but occasionally ranging out as far as using iBeacons or similar technologies. At the moment, we have no system in place to do this; users trying to locate a book in the stacks have to rely on static, general, printed maps posted near the entrances. Besides being perennially suggested as a service improvement by librarians and staff within the library, this was also proposed recently in a library survey of graduate students."

Project Summary

Ideally, the client envisions an application that could be integrated into the new library catalog (https://newcatalog.library.cornell.edu) and/or a mobile app.

The challenges involved in creating a usable system are significant. Even an idea as apparently simple as a dynamic stack map is hindered by the fact that the various libraries on campus do not all track the precise shelf locations for items or even call number ranges, and the enormous size of the Library's collection would make any sort of item-by-item processing (e.g., attaching RFID stickers) unrealistic.

The ideal project is probably too much for a CS 5150 team to complete in one semester. As part of the Feasibility Study and Plan, the team will need to work with the client to identify a first phase that can be accomplished within the time available and propose how it might fit with the longer term goals of the Library.