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Top Tech Trends in Materials Handling
An Infopeople Webinar
Presenter: Lori Bowen Ayre 
- Does your heart sink every time you walk into the back room and see rows of full book carts waiting to get checked in or shelved?
- Ever wish there was a small, affordable sorter that would work for your library?
- Are you under the mistaken assumption that you need RFID to use automated materials handling systems?
- Are the lines at the circ desk getting longer and longer as more people rely on the library for their books, magazines and DVDs?
- Ever considered putting in vending machine in your community but weren’t sure how they work or what they cost?
With the economy in such bad shape, more people are turning to the library for services and material. To deliver services, libraries need staff. To circulate material, libraries need staff … or do they?
There are affordable technologies on the market today that can reduce the number of library staff that need to be involved in basic materials handling functions. Some technologies help staff be more efficient. Other technologies take the workflow out of the staff’s hands entirely.
From self-check in and self-check out machines to vending machines and sorters, there’s a solution out there for libraries of every size and for every budget. Self-check in machines with small sorters can get your library staff out of the back room and out onto the floor where they can deliver services to patrons. Vending machines don’t need staff at all but provide another way (and location) for getting material to patrons. And self-checkout machines aren’t just one trick ponies anymore.
At the end of this one-hour webinar, participants will:
- Learn about five new low cost solutions for supporting materials handling functions
- Be able to identify at least three types of self-service technologies that patrons like which also reduce materials handling work for staff
- Learn the pros and cons of six different materials handling solutions
- Understand that sorters are NOT just for big libraries with large spaces
- Learn that routing slips pre-sorting can be eliminated when using a central sorter for interlibrary delivery
- Be able to identify at least ten vendors that provide automated materials handling products
- Understand that RFID is not necessary for implementing automated materials handling
- Learn about the materials handling systems that are becoming common in libraries
This webinar will be of interest to library directors and managers and other staff involved in materials handling.
Speaker's slides
- pdf (3 slides per page with notes) [639kb]