Although high-frequency (HF) RFID has become the library vendor supplier standard in the United States, EPC Gen 2 ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID has much more to offer libraries. The Grand Rapids Public Library believes it is the first public system in North America to implement UHF RFID, enabling it to speed up checkout, use real-time check-in, provide security and manage inventory. By opting for UHF technology, the library can attain an RFID solution that works faster and more efficiently, takes up less space and costs less. The technology consists of fixed and handheld readers, tags on all library materials, and open-source software designed by the library’s IT department to manage RFID read data and integrate it with the existing library-management system. Learn how UHF RFID technology automates the check-in of library materials (with an RFID reader in the return box), manages checkout more quickly (a stack of materials can be read simultaneously) and provides a security gate that not only interrogates the tags of any unchecked-out items being removed from the library, but also identifies them for the staff. In addition, hear how the system verifies that all parts of multi-piece media are present at checkout and check-in, while also enabling personnel to locate or inventory materials on the shelves using a handheld reader or a portable interrogator on a wheeled cart.
Speaker:
Marla Ehlers, Assistant Director, Grand Rapids Public Library