Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a promising technology that could help streamline the handling of materials in NOBLE libraries and in statewide delivery for resource sharing.
However, for RFID to work successfully beyond your building, national and international standards need to be followed.
Background
The RFID tag is a thin, programmable computer chip contained in a sticky label applied to library materials. It can be imprinted with a barcode and preprogrammed, or it can be blank and programmed later. The data elements can be updated as needed.
The RFID tag is read by radio waves sent out by pads at workstations, security gates, etc. FastPass transponders on the MassPike and plastic Charlie Cards on the MBTA are public examples of RFID technology.
In a library, a RFID tag can do multiple duty. It can take the place of the barcode and also the security device. With RFID, an inventory is as simple as waving a wand along a shelf, no handling of items required. In a larger implementation, it can provide information to an automated sorting system.
Tag Data
Typically the RFID tag would contain at least the barcode number or some other number unique to the item. For a security setup, there would also be a security bit, which would be changed when the item is checked out or in, allowing it to pass through the gates. RFID security gates can also read the barcode of an item not checked out, so that a report can be run of items that have walked out the door without benefit of checkout. A library system interface is required to match the barcodes to the database for security and inventory use.
The RFID tags need not contain any more information than this. There is no privacy issue if the item tag is read by another RFID system, it will only yield the item’s barcode and security bit, which is meaningless to anyone else.
In a more sophisticated materials management system, the tag could be updated to contain the destination for materials in delivery, eliminating the need for a paper delivery slip, in conjunction with a compatible sorting system.
Costs
While they have come down in cost, RFID tags are still an investment, about twenty-five cents per item. There would be labor costs in addition, to stick the tag in the item and to program the tag with the existing barcode. And barcodes (or at least the number) would still be necessary on the item as the item may go to another library without an RFID system. Due to the foil contained in CDs and DVDs, a more expensive solution is usually required.
Other RFID costs include a device at all checkout/checkin stations connected to the library system to read the RFID tag (and change the security bit if applicable), and some additional library system software to interface with the RFID equipment.
Standards and Vendors
There are many RFID vendors at this point in the library marketplace, and the varying implementations may not be standardized. Just as with barcodes, it is imperative to standardize across NOBLE to assure compatibility and so that no unintended consequences occur when an item from library A turns up at library B for checkout or return.
There also needs to be compatibility between RFID systems and self-check stations if you may be contemplating those for the future.
International standards have been recognized by many vendors for sometime, and greater agreement is coming on new standards.
RFID tags used in libraries generally communicate at 13.56 MHz, which is the essence of ISO 15693 standard, which is directly related to the new ISO 18000-3 standard. These also contain signal interface and transmission protocol information. But these say nothing about what information is stored where on the tag, a hugely important issue for compatibility.
The tag can hold a fair amount of digital information — think of it as lines on a sheet of paper or a series of cubbyholes. Everyone using the system must agree on which line or which cubby a given information item will be uniformly stored, or the computer will not find it, or find “incorrect” information. For instance, a system looking to update the security bit could find and overwrite some other piece of information it finds in what it expects to be the security bit location.
For data on the tag, the Danish Data Model has been the standard used by leading library RFID vendors, including Envisionware and Bibliotheca.
A new international standard for information storage locations, ISO 28560, is being developed, with release likely early in 2010.
For more info and data storage and standards, visit this 3M page.
Please let us know if you are contemplating RFID so that we can work together to insure compatibility with our library management system, our other libraries, and potential for statewide automated sorting.
Updated December, 2010