Library solutions provider Bibliotheca, Inc., Switzerland, has announced that it has been selected as the RFID technology provider for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), part of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The NIH Division of Library Services, through a comprehensive range of information resources, services and knowledge, seeks to advance high quality research and service by NIH and selected HHS agencies. The resource library serves the biomedical and behavioural research needs of the NIH community.
While selecting an RFID partner, the NIH Library sought to simplify the library's circulation and enable its staff members to spend more time interfacing with more than 18,000 researchers, clinicians and active NIH staff on the main campus alone. To this end, the NIH Library purchased 235,000 Bibliotheca RFID book tags as well as 1,000 Bibliotheca CD/DVD RFID tags.
Bibliotheca's RFID tags, with BiblioChip technology, automate sorting, handling, security and inventory management. The tags are rewritable for 100,000 re-writes so information can be edited and updated to comply with future data model formats. BiblioChip RFID tags are also ISO-compliant and integrated with the NIH Library's Millennium ILS software.
The NIH Library expects to utilise BiblioChip RFID tags' intelligent detection capability of "knowing" when components are missing in a CD/DVD pack-without the hassle of opening the pack and processing each item individually. Not only will patrons be automatically alerted at self-check kiosks when returning incomplete CD/DVD packs (thereby not allowing them to return the media), but librarians will also be alerted to incomplete returns of media packs during automated sorting.
The NIH Library is currently converting its collection with Bibliotheca's mobile conversion cart and plans to install Bibliotheca's single- and dual-configuration security gates as well as two Bibliotheca self-check kiosks by January 2009.
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