>        I am interested in reading comments and suggestions from all who
>have had experience with the purchase, installation, and use of moveable
>shelving in museum collection areas.

        Hi Bill (no relation) and all:

        I've had considerable experience with Spacesaver Storage systems
here at the University of Alaska Museum.
        Our system was installed in 1980 in our new building. We store
about 1.2 million objects in  23 units, containing drawers, open shelves,
Lane cabinets and opens storage for oversize objects. The movable units are
motor driven, with lighting and motors controlled by microswitches in the
floor panels and locked switches on the ends of the movable unit sections.
        Functionally, the system has worked quite well, however we have had
persistent problems with the mechanical and electrical components. The
microswitches in the floor panels and kickplates on the movable units often
stick, rendering the control switch inoperable. We initially installed
magnetic switches in the doors of the Lane cabinets (to prevent the
movement of units while the doors were open) but those switches failed
early on and have been disconnected. Several of the key-locked control
panels have failed and have been hot-wired to work without a key.
        Recently we attempted to replace four drawers damaged in a water
leak. We ordered four new drawers from the Solutions Group, the company
that bought out Spacesaver. We ordered the drawers in April of 1997 but
have yet to receive the drawers we ordered. It seems that the drawers are
custom made for each application and have to be ordered from a company that
assembles them from pieces ordered from another company. We did recieve a
set of four drawers in March of this year, but they were the wrong size and
a totally different design than our original drawers. The tech rep has been
most friendly and full of apologies and promises each and every time I've
talked to him, but so far no positive results.

        If I had it to do over again, I would go with all manual units. We
initially ordered the motor driven units because we have large collections
of rocks and fossils, which are very heavy. I've since seen manual units
capable of handling the type of bulky and heavy collections we have with no
difficulty, so I would forgo the high-tech application and stick with
something requiring less maintenence. Alaska is, after all, a
Technology-Free Zone.
        I would also attempt to find some sort of standardized drawer or
shelf units, to insure their availability in the future. We're facing a
major expansion soon, and I would like to expand the Spacesaver system in a
manner compatible with our existing storage, but I'm not confident that
will be possible.

        Michael A. Lewis
        Archaeology Collections Manager
        University of Alaska Museum