PHYSICAL SPACE OCCUPIED
An accurate measure of Physical Space Occupied by collection material is key to successfully managing and clearly communicating information about holdings and can critically inform collection management, space and facilities planning, and other efforts. Knowing how much space various categories of collection material occupy can be especially helpful for making projections about collection growth and when advocating for additional resources, especially those related to providing ongoing stewardship of collection material over time.
Physical Space Occupied is reported in measures of linear feet or cubic feet at the discretion of the repository. Also at the discretion of the repository is the decision to report Physical Space Occupied by collection material that is on deposit at, as opposed to formally held by, the repository. A consistent and well-documented approach to these and other decisions, and to the work associated with conducting a measure of Physical Space Occupied, will help to ensure that the measure is meaningful for the repository itself and comparable with other repositories.
The following points provide guidance when measuring Physical Space Occupied.
- Measure space occupied by physical manifestations of all collection material for which the repository provides sustained stewardship. Include all locations at which collection material is shelved, including those that the repository does not itself manage, such as off-site storage facilities. The decision to report Physical Space Occupied by collection material that is on deposit at another repository is at the discretion of the repository, as is the decision to report Physical Space Occupied by collection material that is on loan to another repository, for display or other purposes.
- Categorize collection material, whenever possible, as one of the following: Archival and Manuscript Material, Published Language Material, Cartographic Material, Computer Programs, Graphic/Visual Material, Moving Image Material, Notated Movement, Notated Music, Objects/Artifacts, or Sound Recordings. When it is not possible or practical to assign holdings to one of these categories, report the Physical Space Occupied as "Other Collection Material (Not Categorized)." The purpose of "Other Collection Material (Not Categorized)” is to account for and accommodate, for example, multiple types of collection material and/or difficult to categorize collection material in the same physical space (such as a map case containing both maps and posters).
- For purposes of conducting the recommended measures, there is no need to distinguish collection material that is described online and therefore discoverable from collection material that is not yet described online and is therefore not discoverable. This distinction is explicitly called for in the Optional measures, which are intended to encourage repositories to make this distinction whenever possible. When it is not possible or practical to discern discoverability, report the Physical Space Occupied as “Discoverability Mixed/Unknown."
- A count of shelving units and storage cases, by capacity and/or size, can be used for purposes of obtaining a calculated measure of Physical Space Occupied. Similarly a count of containers, again by type or size, can be used for the same.
The following resources may be helpful for calculating a measure of Physical Space Occupied:
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