Today I visited Kristynn Johnson at the Eugene Public Library. This library was an early adopter of RFID technology. They started doing RFID in 2002. They have done an awesome job implementing this awesome technology.
Here is a picture of their automated material handling system made by Tech-Logic. It is super cool and works great!
The conveyor system "talks" to the Polaris ILS to check-in items and get their collection code to determine which sorting bin to put them in.
Kristynn gave me some pointers on applying RFID tags to library items:
On the vast majority of items RFID tags can simply be applied without concern. Occasionally though to achieve the best results, one must understand the technology. For example RFID tags may not work at self-check if obscured by a significant amount of metal. The metal is sometimes found in a book jacket, especially a shiny one, such as Guiness World Records, popular with young people. (btw I googled that and found lots of really amazing/gross pictures!) It is best to position an RFID tag on an item that contains metal in a way that the self-check readers will have clear access and read the tag information clearly at check out. In a box set of CD/DVDs it is advisable to only tag one item. Otherwise the "noise" from multiple labels will not give a good read.
Some items may not work well with self-check for what ever reason and these will need some sort of visual indicator like a special sticker to indicate that they need to be checked in and out manually to assure that they are posted and removed from the patron accounts accordingly. There are very few cases of when RFID cannot be utilized.
Thanks Kristynn! I appreciated the tour!
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