“Adam Nash, Sr. Director of Product, LinkedIn wrote a piece on our corporate blog on our expansion plans and a couple of articles on how we were setting up our office. Hope these help. ”

Links:
Breaking New Ground: More Engineers, More Room
Silicon Valley Workspaces Circa: Web 2.0

* Eve Abbott, A Brain New Way to Work
* Stefan Didak, Ignyter

Sallie goes on to say:

“Eve has done extensive writing about how to set up your office so that it works for your brain style. Stefan has the world’s most-viewed home office computing setup. “

Reference materials include books and magazines plus client files and literature.

My office is in a walk-out basement, which tends to be cool but humid in summer and cold but dry in the winter — 60% humidity is ideal for books, and the higher it is the more prone to mold paper becomes, the lower the humidity the more brittle it becomes. Water saturation can also affect the efficacy of the paper, and if there is a lot of dust it can permiate the dust. I keep a moderately inexpensive thermometer with a humidity meter in my office and monitor it during the day and during wet weather.

Bookshelves don’t have to be expensive, but you should avoid sharp edges to keep from wearing book edges and pages (round the shelf edges slightly). If you have wood shelves, make sure you sand them to remove rough spots, and if you stain the planks make sure you coat them with varnish or polturethane to keep the paper and cloth from absorbing the stain. Make sure everything dries before putting books on the shelves.

I invested in barrister shelves, which have doors that slide open for access but slide shut to protect books from excess dust and other intrusions. Sauder sells a moderately priced set in a couple of different styles that are easy to put together and look nice. The store where I bought them even put one set together for me.

Sometimes keeping humidity levels in check is a matter of moderating temperature and air. Keep air temperature consistent my adjusting curtains or blinds on the windows on sunny days and by using heaters, such as an electric heater. (Air temperature can affect humidity, too.) Keep air drier using a de-humidier in summer especially during wet weather and a humidifier in winter especially during really dry weather.

A side benefit of taking care of your books is that it can also protect your furniture and equipment from the same kinds of heat and humidity.

Sauder Barrister Bookshelves:
http://www.sauder.com/furniture/search_text.asp?l=16&pb=1&dym=1300&searchbox=barrister+bookcase
Inside Thermometer with Hydrometer:
http://www.amazon.com/Crosse-Technology-WS-9400U-Thermometer-Hygrometer/dp/B000AMB0AM
My Blog on Books:
http://booksville.blogspot.com