I recently presented this information at a conference, and thought I’d toss it out here. Probably not news to anyone, but just in case it’s helpful - or if anyone wants to start a conversation around what I presented.
Polaris User Group Conference, October 2007
Margaret Hazel, Eugene Public Library
General RFID industry status:
Moving from a gee-whiz cool new technology to more settled use of it as a tool for a variety of purposes, including inventory control, identification verification, toll road payment verification, pharmaceutical safety, seals on imported goods, and sensors for tracking temperature, humidity, shock, and light.
Library-specific trends & developments:
- Moving towards tag protocol and content standards, as recommended in the soon-to-be released NISO document. Our own Louise Schaper at Fayetteville is a member of the developing team. An international data model recommendation is also underway.
- Moving away from vendors recommending as a primary solution for security purposes
- Vendors continue to explore ways to alternately secure media, while allowing RFID self-check; magnetic lockboxes around the case, cases with RFID-unlocking tabs, etc.
- Continuing use of barcodes, despite early predictions that RFID would spell the end of barcode usage.
- Continuing development of RFID products by integrated library systems, such as Polaris’ ExpressCheck.
- Exploration of supply chain tagging, and use of one tag through the life of the item.