Robot-managed library at Chicago State University.

“The new library at Chicago State University has one ironclad rule: No students allowed in these stacks—only robots. Every book, CD, and DVD in the school’s $38 million facility is tagged with a radio-frequency ID chip. When a borrowed item slides through the return slot, the system identifies and sorts it. Human librarians shelve post-1990 materials in the traditional stacks and drop older stuff into file-drawer-sized bins. From there, it’s all robots—tall, forklift-style machines that run on tracks and stow the materials in a three-story high storage facility. No Dewey decmials? No problem. The computer knows where everything is and can hustle the correct bin to the circulation desk for checkout.” (Excerpt from Wired Magazine.)

Starter Resources: Chicago State University Library | Erin Biba’s article “Biblio Tech,” in the January 2007 issue of Wired Magazine