The title of the article I found on EBSCOhost in the Academic Search Premier database about RFID was, Library RFID Systems for Identification, Security, and Materials Handling by Laurie Bowen Ayre.
It was published in July 2012.
The Jackson County Public Library that I work in currently uses RFID technology. RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification. This type of security technology has been a good trend for libraries to utilize and explore. Previously we used metal strips on cd's and dvds, which would be easily torn off or cause the item to be caught in players. The overlays used are smooth and more difficult to remove. Also these strips could not be used on vhs tapes. Even though we are now weeding these out of our collection to the sadness of some patrons. We were told that eventually you could use an RFID wand to scan the shelves, but I have yet to see this come to our library. This would be a great tool to check status of items shelved. It basically works the same as at your grocery store. The library item is put on a pad, the barcode is scanned automatically, security is turned off, and the item is now checked out to the patron. We have self-check out machines that work the same way. The only problem is people still scan just the barcode on the item, causing the gates to alarm. Our security gates are integrated with the ILS and when activated tell you the name of the item setting the alarm off. It also tells you the status of the item. It was a long project to convert everything over to this technology, but overall I think it has been beneficial. It is helpful to keep in mind that with all new trends in technology there will be hiccups. We recently had an upgrade to our RFID pads and it took some getting used to.
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