Well usually there was only one ISSN, but there might be more than one OCLC number. Back in the day, that was fairly common, because the bibliographic record describes the item, and if the items are different formats… It’s the sort of thing that happens when you dogmatically follow the rules without thinking of the user interface. Let’s face it, original cataloging is usually done by pedants, which is a good thing, when it isn’t taken to extremes.
edited to add. “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds”, but I feel no shame in admitting that my mind is small compared to the contents of a research library.
I thought it might be a bit better, but I guess there is still all that ‘wasted’ space for corridors, apart from the space directly between the shelves. Mobile stacks don’t have to be closed off - I’ve used a few university libraries where they are open. The library at EPFL is one, which is a fun place in all kinds of ways:
https://www.google.com/search?q=epfl+rolex+learning+centre&tbm=isch
I can see that the bookbot makes a lot of sense, and logically is the right thing to do. But part of the library experience is walking in for one thing and coming out with something completely different. A used to know a guy who was a big fan of the oversized section - he liked that so many different topics were squeezed into a few shelves.
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