-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: Moving map cases
Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2012 13:13:49 -0400
From: Grabach, Kenneth A. Mr. <[log in to unmask]>
To: Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship <[log in to unmask]>

I have had several experiences of moving map cases.  I have had to have
the same cases moved more than four different times.

Rather than undertake the physical moving of them ourselves, we arranged
for the trucking crew who work with the university's Physical Facilities
Department to move them.  Yes, you will need to remove the drawers from
the case carcasses.

Equipment used by our crew has been two-wheeled hand trucks, or
'dollies' to move the carcasses, set up on their side.  If the tops are
detachable on any of them, they should be removed and transported
separately, and reattached when everything is reassembled in the new
location.  The drawers can be transported, other than through narrow
doors, on flat four-wheeled trucks.  Our crew calls them 'L carts'.

Now, getting them through doors is something else entirely!  If the
doors are double-wide doors with a post at the jamb, those posts could
probably be removed (here is another place where a crew is useful, they
know what doors can be done this way, and have the tools and knowledge
to take care of it).  If they are single doors, then yes, the drawers
need to be turned on end.

Dealing with that aspect of moving the cases has always been the most
troublesome for me, and the most time consuming part for a crew.  I do
not know a simple way to secure the maps in the drawer.  It might be
worth it to take the time to remove the maps.  I have had marginal
success moving them using book trucks.  If they are maps like
topographic quadrangles, a large book truck can work reasonably well.  I
would recommend using no more than the top shelf, or top two shelves for
this method.  You will find yourself wishing you had more arms to hold
everything, as they may slide about.  Weighting down a stack is
sometimes successful, sometimes less so!  Things get really tricky when
the maps are not topo sets, but are the one-off maps or small sets of
various scales and sizes.

A possibility for this second type is to use a flatbed truck, one of
those 'L-carts' mentioned for moving the drawers.  And yes, if you
separate contents of drawers by pieces of cardboard of some kind, then
your task to replace them is simpler.  Just make sure the cart can fit
through the doorway.  If the fit is too tight, or just too narrow by a
small amount, don't forget that doors can be removed from the hinges,
which often gives as much as 3-4 inches of extra width.  My biggest
trouble here was that the elevator we had to use when going from one
floor to another was too narrow.  Nothing could be done to expand that
width!  Personally, I would not recommend map portfolios.  You wind up
with the weight of the folios as well as of the maps, and a lot of carrying.

If you have cardboard that could fit into the drawers, that would allow
you to put the drawers on their sides with less damage or sliding of the
maps.  Or book trucks if you are willing to do maps in a loose fold on
maybe the top shelf only.

Getting them downstairs?  Same way you would move book trucks with
books!  Use your elevator.  If there is access to a freight elevator,
consider using it.  Even if things have to be wheeled a long distance
between starting point, elevator, and destination point, it is worth it.
  You have a larger space for the lift, you have wider doors, and just
all around a better experience than with anything else.  Even if all you
have is a passenger elevator, it is still worth it to avoid stairs.
Stairs are not friends of map moving projects, simply because of the
time and weights involved.

I hope this helps.  Feel free to get in touch with me directly if you
have additional questions.  Some of the map-moving suggestions are just
guessing on my part.

Ken Grabach                           <[log in to unmask]>
Maps Librarian                          Phone: 513-529-1726
Miami University Libraries
Oxford, Ohio  45056  USA


-----Original Message-----
From: Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Angie Cope, American
Geographical Society Library, UW Milwaukee
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2012 12:12 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Moving map cases

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Moving map cases
Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2012 09:48:28 -0600 (MDT)
From: Laurence S. Creider <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]


Some, if not most, of you will have dealt with the problem of moving map
cases.  I ask you to share your experience.

As part of a renovation project of our second floor, our Special
Collections map cases need to be moved to the first floor.  We will be
removing the drawers from the cases, moving the cases and the drawers
separately, and then reinserting the drawers into their cases.

The drawers of two of the 15-drawer units (3 5-drawer units stacked)
have no cover at the top of the drawer, although the 1 10-drawer unit does.
Drawers will have to be turned on their sides in order to make it
through doors, so unsecured maps will fall out.

How do I move the maps with minimal damage?  I assume that we will have
to remove the maps from each drawer.  How do we get those maps
downstairs when they are too broad for a book truck?  We could use large
map portfolios, but I can see where some of those might not work.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions on how to keep this out of the
disastrous experience category.

Larry

--
Laurence S. Creider
Interim Head
Archives and Special Collections Dept.
University Library
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, NM  88003
Work: 575-646-4756
Fax: 575-646-7477
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