

Robots That Serve the World's Largest Library Archives - samclemens
http://gizmodo.com/the-giant-robots-that-serve-the-worlds-largest-library-1700712936

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Jun8
A fiction version of these robots was described in _Mr. Penumbra 's 24-Hour
Bookstore_
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Penumbra%27s_24-Hour_Bookst...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Penumbra%27s_24-Hour_Bookstore)),
I suggest you check it out if you haven't already done so, nice, entertaining
read.

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stevep98
I've used Santa Clara University Library robots, (listed in this article), but
I don't think these are a good idea at all.

You go to the library computer, look up the book you want, and press
'retrieve', and go to the desk. A minute or so later, the book shows up.

When I go to any other library, I browse the books on the shelves, maybe 20 or
30. I can quickly shuffle through them, maybe looking at just their spines to
see what I want.

These robots just kill browsing completely. I think they are fine for some
purposes - archives, but not for university general libraries where browsing
should be encouraged.

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rbanffy
Wouldn't there cranes make a vertical data-center (which, I suppose, would be
very efficient, as the height of the warm air column would drive exhaustion)
easier to build?

