About the RFID Special Interest Group
Background
The proposal for an RFID Special Interest Group was first discussed on the occasion of the 69th
IFLA General Conference and Council 2003 in Berlin with the open
session of IFLA’s Information Technology session “Wireless Technologies
for Library Services – RFID in Use”.
Since then, other meetings have been held dealing with this topic
e.g. during the mid-year conference in March 2008 of the IFLA Section
Core Activity on Preservation and Conservation (PAC), where they were
concerned with “Salvage in case of disaster in libraries and archives:
How RFID and regular practical training can help to be efficient”.
Another event took place at the Metropolitan Libraries Section of
IFLA during the conference in Singapore with the title “Library as a
Fusion Space: Possibilities and Opportunities” which concluded that
“RFID seems to be the future”. The most recent comment about RFID comes
from the latest ITS Newsletter in July 2010.
It was stated that: RFID technology continues to advance faster than
the standards for adoption in the library community. A range of concerns
exist around current RFID implementations, including those of privacy,
security of the tags and longevity. Equally the emerging ISO standards
for RFID appear, like the ISO/ILL standards, over-engineered and lacking
flexibility in implementation approach (such as would permit
―right-sizing‖ for different library contexts). Both UHF and HF tags
have advanced and costs of the technology has reduced. A lightweight tag
protocol would permit simpler implementation approaches in smaller
libraries who primarily look for stock control. The lock-out of UHF in
the current ISO standards is disappointing and may limit innovation in
this area.
As a summary it can be seen that up until now, during the latest
conferences and meetings held by IFLA, the subject of RFID was more a
side issue and that now we could change this situation through the
foundation of a SIG into making this a main IFLA topic.
Today our common understanding is that the RFID approach and the
underlying technologies are one of the most significant and important
challenges facing libraries; offering great potential to enhance front
and back office services and strengthening the library position compared
to the RFID and LMS/ILS suppliers concerning applications, interfaces
and so on. Since libraries first started using RFID systems in the late
1990s there are now about 3,000 libraries worldwide that have identified
the advantages of this technology and many more that are planning to
introduce it.
At present we have two annual conferences with a special focus on
RFID, one took place during the first days of the Frankfurt Book Fair
week in October in Berlin (three times) and the other one in the first
half of November in London (six times).However, we lack an international
platform to discuss this on a continuous basis.
ITS sees a need for an ongoing discussion about this technology and libraries in a broader scope across different approaches.
Mission of the proposed SIG-RFID
Some topics, connections and questions concerning this technology are
very often repeated in presentations that share a focus on RFID, for
example:
- Is UHF or HF the right technology for libraries as some libraries in Asia and booksellers work with UHF solutions?
- How important are common data models, thick interfaces and APIs
between LMS/ILS and RFID devices, quality management of tags and
embedded equipment such as security gates? - Which frequency technology will run into the future, HF or UHF?
- How dangerous is electromagnetic pollution?
- What are the problems with privacy issues?
- Could it be an advantage to organise and manage the document
delivery e.g. for inter-library loans with logistic support of RFID
solutions? - Could permanent stock inventory using RFID technology become a reality?
- How could we organize a better usability of RFID self-booking units?
- In which RFID-based workflows in a library are outsourcing steps possible?
However, these opportunities and issues are still only known to a
small community of technically experienced librarians and the strategic
importance of these topics to the library community in general has to be
demonstrated. Technologies like these are still at an early stage and
the creation of a community of interests among professionals will be
needed in order to develop and mainstream them.
Therefore the SIG-RFID intends to be the platform where interested
professionals could come together and undertake whatever tasks are
needed to develop, enhance and facilitate the adoption of RFID
technologies in the library community.
IFLA would be an ideal place for sharing our common knowledge of RFID in the library context.
Goals of SIG-RFID
- To be an open place to discuss subjects related to the topic RFID
and libraries, create standards and guidelines and contribute to any
other relevant work within and outside IFLA. - To strengthen and transform the professional knowledge of libraries
in the RFID area by providing training and information to IFLA
professionals, thus contributing to IFLA’s strategic plan for 2010 –
2015; to raise awareness among the library community about the relevance
and potential of RFID technologies for libraries and to provide
training and workshops in order to improve the librarians’ know-how in
this area. - To market the libraries’ knowledge and know-how to other
communities and with the actors of the RFID at large thus acting as the
global voice of libraries in this field.
In order to reach these goals the SIG-RFID will:
- organize and promote events during the IFLA Congresses (SIG-RFID
sessions, satellite meetings, training workshops, social events); - monitor ongoing projects (standards, tools, techniques) within or
outside IFLA, and provide up-to-date information and reports using IFLA
information and communication channels; - organize specific task groups to undertake new projects when needed;
- bring together a community of professionals using appropriate on-line tools (mailing list…)
Convenor
Frank Seeliger
Technical University of Applied Sciences
Wildau, Germany
Última actualización: 5 Octubre 2012