Filing Equipment -LIBRARY EQUIPMENT-LIBRARY MANAGEMENT
Provision for filing has to be made for many kind of materials, from architectural and technical f very large size to microform copies of various formats. In between there are correspondence, newspaper clippings, patents and standards, and many more of e and material. Numerous types of systems and equipment have been designed to storage and convenient retrieval.
The basic card catalogue for filing library card has been described in a previous section. But any other kinds of cards for which special provision has to be made. Small rotary files with cards or microfiche (5 cm x 7.5 cm), that snap in place easily are useful to indicate special reference materials or important addresses. Roll-dex is one such equipment which is commonly seen in banks in India. For large number of cards, motorised units such as Kardveyer (sold by Remington Rand in India) is more suitable.
For filing correspondence and other material in loose sheet format vertical filing cabinets with pull out drawers, or lateral filing systems that open from.he sine are suitable.
For storing pamphlets and catalogues, pamphlet boxes of various kinds are available. They are of different sizes and designs-some, are open at the top and front; others have only one side open; some have a slanted opening; some are more rigid than others. They may be made of cardboard, wood, metal or plastic.
Microforms are of various types and sizes-16 mm, 35 mm, 70 mm microfilm, microfiche and micro opaque cards. They should be stored in an environment which is not too humid and there is no extreme range of temperatures (air conditioning is not essential, but preferable). Short strips of microfilms may be put in pockets and filed in drawers. Longer ones are wound in spools, packed in individual cartons with paper identification and filed in drawers. Slides or transparencies require special filing cases. For small collection portable slide boxes are useful.
Microfiche should always be kept in protective covers or envelopes. Top edges of microfiche should be visible for easy filing and identification. Microfiche should be filed in steel cabinets.
Large steel cabinets with shallow drawers are available for architectural or technical drawings. Sometimes these are rolled and kept in cylindrical containers.