Pandian - RFID for Libraries

AFI application family identifier

AIDC automatic identification and data capture

API application program interface

CAC common access card

DHCP dynamic host configuration protocol

EAS electronic article surveillance

EM electro magnetic

EPC electronic product code

GPS geographic positioning system

HF high frequency

IEC International Electrotechnical Commission

ILS integrated library system

IMSc Institute of Mathematical Sciences

IP internet protocol

IS information system

ISO International Organization for Standardization

IT information technology

LAN local area network

LED light emitting diode

LF low frequency

LMS library management system

MARC machine readable cataloging

MOM message oriented middleware

NCIP NISO circulation interchange protocol

NISO National Information Standards Organization

NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology

OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

PC personal computer

PDA personal data assistant

RFDC radio frequency data communication

RFID radio frequency identification

ROI return on investment

SIP standards interchange protocol

TCP transmission control protocol

UDP user datagram protocol

UHF ultra high frequency

URL uniform resource locator

USB universal serial bus

WWW World Wide Web

M. Paul Pandian obtained his PhD from Karnatak University, Dharwad, India and an Associateship in Documentation and Information Science from the Documentation Research and Training Centre, Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore, India. He is currently the Head of the Library and Information Resource Centre at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Department of Atomic Energy, Chennai, India where he has recently successfully implemented an RFID-based system for the library. He was previously the Head of the Library and Information Resource Centre at the Indian Institute of Management, Indore, India and a member of the core team that was responsible for the setting up of a campus-wide information system for the IIM. He has also worked as a scientist at the INFLIBNET Centre, University Grants Commission, India where he was responsible for developing the online union catalogs of participating libraries at INFLIBNET. As a course coordinator at INFLIBNET, he also designed and developed course materials for a six-week residential course on the applications of computer and communication technologies in libraries for library executives and information scientists. He has in addition contributed several research articles on the topic of library and information science to a number of journals and presented papers at national and international conferences.

The author may be contacted at:

).

).

):

by the government, through social security numbers;

by employers, through employee ID numbers;

by universities, through student ID numbers;

by insurers, banks, credit card companies, and other financial institutions, through account numbers.

).

).

).

The term RFID has become a general term used to describe sensory technology that uses radio waves to scan and identify separate and distinct items. RFID is only one of numerous technologies grouped under automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) technologies, such as barcode, magnetic inks, optical character recognition, voice recognition, touch memory, smart cards, biometrics, etc. AIDC technologies have been used for decades to increase accuracy and efficiency in the data collection process for many activities. At their core, all AIDC technologies support two common goals:

to eliminate errors associated with identification and/or data collection, and

to accelerate the throughput process.

).

Although RFID technology has been around for a long time, it has only had a surge in its acceptance and a massive growth in its use in the last few years. Several developments have sped up the adoption of the technology:

First, technical standards are being established.

Second, the cost of the tags has come down.

Third, mandates to use RFID are being issued by major retailers and organizations.

The use of RFID technology creates opportunities in all realms of life for business, science, government, and leisure-time activities. RFID can optimize processes, facilitate traceability, guarantee authenticity, improve product safety, boost efficiency, and simplify access control. RFID has recently emerged as one of the emerging technologies for asset tracking, inventory management, supply chain management, payment systems, information sharing, access control, and security using radio waves. Industries with the greatest opportunities to use RFID include retail, aerospace, defense, health care, logistics, pharmaceutical organizations, and libraries.