Thing 10: Technology Blogging--RFID

Although the Ocean County Library has not yet adopted RFID technology, some of you may be familiar with this because your credit cards or passport have been embedded with an RFID chip. If you can make a purchase by simply waving your card over a designated spot, you are experiencing the benefits of RFID technology.

RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification. RFID chips are encoded with information which is then transformed into radio waves that are captured by an RFID reader. Some RFID chips can be read from several yards away, others must be in closer proximity to the RFID reader. RFID tags can be put into just about anything--library materials, pets and even people.

What makes RFID technology any different than the barcodes and barcode readers that we already use here in the library? The RFID readers can access the information encoded on the RFID chips without anyone having to open the books. More importantly, the RFID readers can read an entire stack of books all at once. Locating a particular item on the shelf could be as simple as simply holding the wand-shaped RFID reader along the books while walking through the stacks.

How will RFID technology affect us here in Ocean County? First of all, there has been some discussion lately as to whether or not the personal information encoded on the RFID chips in your credit cards or passports can be hacked by anyone on the street with an RFID reader. Never fear, a simple layer of aluminum foil can protect the electronically encoded personal information that you carry in your wallet--or perhaps you'd like to craft your own RFID blocking duct tape wallet .

As for what may happen when if/when the library decides to adopt this technology, is it a reasonable assumption that fewer circulation staff will be needed? For example, if an RFID reader was placed in the book drop, that would mean that books would be checked in as they were placed into the drop, precluding the need for circulation staff to check them in before returning them to the shelves. Self checkout for customers would be much easier and faster when customers can check out an entire stack of books at once. A more thorough examination of the implications of RFID technology and libraries can be found in Lori Bowen Ayre's 2004 position paper for the Galecia group.

What about the privacy of our customers? The RFID chips are continuously emiting information--would it be possible for hackers to examine the reading habits of library patrons by simply hanging around outside and pointing the RFID reader at people exiting the library?

I look forward to reading other's postings on technology.