I'm about to re organise the equipment storage room. How does everyone have theirs? Alphabetical, all glassware together, electricals together or in topics ie Bio Chem Phy? All seem to have good and bad points. Interested to hear any comments.
Thanks.
I've just finished redoing mine. And I have grouped stuff together. all electrical together, bio together, and particularly physics - actually in a separate storeroom near the physics lab. Alphabetically works for chemicals, but not for equipment, as a lot of it is known by various names. So when you want quickfit kits, the hoses are stored beside them and not under H, and so on.
When we got shelves in our store room I tried to organise it into 'general science stuff' and then the equipment used more for senior classes, Bio, Chem and Physics. Can't say it worked all that well because the people who had put the shelves in had put them too close to the door so they had to come back and move them. They took everything out and put it all back in randomly!! Although some of it stayed sort-of where it was meant to be... I've slowly tried to get it back into some sort of order. I have things that I don't use often (eg spare glassware that isn't needed yet) up the very top. My reasoning behind subject groupings rather than alphabetical is that different people use different names for the same equipment. The theory is that if it's for physics, I know to look in 'this general area' and hopefully it will be there... Perhaps you could be really organised and go alphabetical within the subject group??? If you have containers labelled and shelves labelled so that containers go back where they belong that would be superb!! I would love that... Just don't have time to do it...
In our equipment store I do not have any glass ware. It is all stored Alphabetical, as the HT and I are the only ones with a key. I am the one to put it away, as well as get it out. So far this has worked very well for 8 years now. Many things are known by different names, light globes, globes, blubs, it can go on and on. I also have small amounts of the common use items in my compatus, power packs, microscopes etc. I do not have subject areas.
Regards Labbie
Lab Manager/Lab Tech, mind reading etc etc
Now retired
I have a large chem store, which stores all my new & spare glassware, bottles etc. In my prep room, I have heaps of draws and I use them for the most often used equipment and smaller things, and the prep room cupboards have some physics stuff, ray boxes, oscilloscope and my store room, which we share has the larger equipment like microscopes, balances sketeton and less used bits. I have it all stored in alphabetical order, as best I can.
You didn't say if you have a selected amount of glassware and general equipment within your labs already or how many labs this storage area supported.
If you have only the one store room for all your labs then I think having all the glassware together and readily accessible is a good start and also the specialist glassware for Chemistry in that area also. Perhaps the molymod stuff could be here as well along with the paraphenalia used with senior chemistry pracs.
Have a general area for items such as hotplates which are used by all areas. You could possibly store tongs, ceramic triangles, extra lab stock such as bench mats, gauze mats, bunsens, retort stands, etc in this area also. A separate area for Physics equipment is a good idea. Power packs, leads, ammeters, voltmeters, equipment for light, electricity, heat and other assorted physics items and models associated with physics need to be together. The Biology section could store models, microscopes, small items required for dissection, glass slide and cover slips plus prepared slides and any associated equipment used in biology pracs as well as extra lab stock relevant to biology use.
In the end it is what makes an area work for you and what is the most practical use of the space you have to work with.
Lyn.
I have shelves and cupboards in the middle of my prep room as well as a separate store room. The store room is for things that dont get used too much and I generally try to keep it in subject areas. My glassware is in the cupboards nearest the sink and dishwasher so i dont have to carry it too far. Electrical stuff is on the shelves nearest the door as students are always asking for new bulbs, leads, batteries etc. Also right next to the door is a set of shelves that have paper, pencils, glue sticks, scissors etc. I have a workbench area that has all my fix it stuff on shelves above. Small things that are used for many areas eg rubber bands are stored in the big group of drawers and are alphabetical.
I have several storage areas (as we are an older school where there are preprooms between two labs, then a store room, then two more labs with a prep room in between - times this by two). The book store room has all the common equipment such as microscopes, electrical kits etc on trolleys so they are easily moved between labs.
The rest of the equipment is split up between prep rooms and store rooms. These are grouped together in subject/equipment groups only ie all excess glassware is together in the storeroom; alll physics is together; all bunsen burner equipment is together. I do have the most common equipment in the prep rooms so that teachers can help themselves if needed without having to leave their classes unattended. My geology section is in alphabetical order - which took me ages to move by the way - then I had a teacher come along and say that I should have done it in alphabetical order in each of the categories (igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic). There are many ways to do it. My advise is to have it organised so that it is easiest for you. You will be the one accessing it more than anyone else.
One of the first things I did, after moving items around so it made sense to me, was create a catalogue for each of the prep rooms and storerooms. These are kept in these rooms so that if I am away the teachers are able to find what they need easily. It is also a good guide for you if you forget where you have stored something.
so i have stuff all over the place. I have a very small prep room & storeroom so it is all organised by categories depending on where everything fits. eg. All the specialised chemistry glassware goes in one cupboard. Most physics stuff is stored in the physics lab and most chemistry & biology stuff is stored in the other lab. The junior lab and Chem/Bio lab has its own set of bunsen burners and glassware. Chemicals get stored by categories in the prep room.
Its a little higgledy piggledy but I have a access database set up so I can find everything. I think alphabetically or categorically is kind of a six one way, half dozen the other situation. Whatever works for you. As you said there are benefits to both ways. As long as you can find everything