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Of all first generation automated storage and retrieval (AS/R) systems installed in libraries in the United States, the most complex and ambitious installation was at the Health Sciences Library at Ohio State University. The system was designed to have twelve aisles, but only eight were installed, along with four calling stations/circulation desks located at both ends of the machine on each of two floors of the library. The system, which originally cost $811,799, required constant maintenance resulting in expenditures of $889,191 through June 1990, plus $139,575 for conversion/renovation of the system in recent years. In 1989, the university made the decision to remove the Randtriever in conjunction with anticipated expansion and renovation of the library. A sidebar by Eric Jayjohn compares the Rand‐triever with contemporary AS/R technology.

Since their public debuts in the 1960s, thousands of automated storage and retrieval (AS/R) systems have been installed in industrial settings across the United States and Western Europe. These units provide secure, controlled storage and rapid retrieval for inventories that range from computer components to major sub‐assemblies for fighter aircraft. However, until the current installation of an AS/R at California State University, Northridge, only four previous installations were made in the United States and one in Europe. All these earlier systems experienced serious problems, resulting in their removal at three libraries in the U.S., with the remaining U.S. site currently planning to remove its system. These failures have conditioned librarians to avoid such systems, despite significant differences in contemporary technology. Kountz describes the early systems and analyzes what went wrong with them, and why.