Page 29 - DLIS408_INFORMATION_TECHNOLOGY-APPLICATIONSL SCIENCES

Information Technology and Application

Notes While there is some debate as to when and where RFID in libraries first began, it was first
proposed in the late 1990s as a technology that would enhance workflow in the library setting.
Singapore was certainly one of the first to introduce RFID in libraries and Rockefeller University
in New York may have been the first academic library in the United States to utilize this technology,
whereas Farmington Community Library in Michigan may have been the first public institution,
both of which began using RFID in 1999.

Did u know? In Europe, the first public library to use RFID was the one in Hoogezand-
Sappemeer, the Netherlands, in 2001, where borrowers were given an option.
To their surprise, 70% used the RFID option and quickly adapted, including elderly people.
Worldwide, in absolute numbers, RFID is used most in the United States (with its 300 million inhabitants),
followed by the United Kingdom and Japan. It is estimated that over 30 million library items worldwide
now contain RFID tags, including some in the Vatican Library in Rome. At the time of 2010, the largest
RFID implementation in academic library is the University of Hong Kong Libraries which has over
1.20 million library items contains RFID tags; whereas the largest implementation for public institution
has been installed in Seattle Public Library in the United States.
RFID has many library applications that can be highly beneficial, particularly for circulation staff.
Since, RFID tags can be read through an item, there is no need to open a book cover or DVD case
to scan an item. This could reduce repetitive-motion injuries. Where the books have a bar code on
the outside, there is still the advantage that borrowers can scan an entire pile of books in one go,
instead of one at a time. Since RFID tags can also be read while an item is in motion, using RFID
readers to check-in returned items while on a conveyor belt reduces staff time. But, as with
barcode, this can all be done by the borrowers themselves, meaning they might never again need
the assistance of staff. Next to these readers with a fixed location there are also portable ones (for
librarians, but in the future possibly also for borrowers, possibly even their own general-purpose
readers). With these, inventories could be done on a whole shelf of materials within seconds,
without a book ever having to be taken off the shelf. In Umeå, Sweden, RFID is being used to assist
visually impaired people in borrowing audio books. In Malaysia, Smart Shelves are used to
pinpoint the exact location of books in Multimedia University Library, Cyberjaya. In the
Netherlands, handheld readers are being introduced for this purpose.

The Dutch Union of Public Libraries (‘Vereniging van Openbare Bibliotheken’) is working on the
concept of an interactive ‘context library’, where borrowers get a reader/headphones-set, which
leads them to the desired section of the library (using triangulation methods, rather like GPS) and
which they can use to read information from books on the shelves with the desired level of detail
(e.g. a section read out loud), coming from the book’s tag itself or a database elsewhere, and get tips
on alternatives, based on the borrowers’ preferences, thus creating a more personalized version of
the library. This may also lead them to sections of the library they might not otherwise visit.
Borrowers could also use the system to exchange experiences (such as grading books). This is
already done by children in the virtual realm at mijnstempel.nl, but the same could be done in
physical form. Borrowers can grade the book at the return desk.
However, as of 2008 this technology remains too costly for many smaller libraries, and the
conversion period has been estimated at 11 months for an average-size library. A 2004 Dutch
estimate was that a library which lends 100,000 books per year should plan on a cost of 50,000
(borrow- and return-stations: 12,500 each, detection porches 10,000 each; tags 0.36 each). RFID
taking a large burden off the staff could also mean that fewer staff will be needed, resulting in
some of them getting fired, but that has so far not happened in North America where recent
surveys have not returned a single library that cut staff because of adding RFID. In fact, library
budgets are being reduced for personnel and increased for infrastructure, making it necessary for
libraries to add automation to compensate for the reduced staff size. Also, the tasks that RFID takes

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