WORLD OF LETTERS: The children's library, a section of the State Central Library, Thiruvananthapuram. -Photo: S. Gopakumar

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Imagine a situation where you exit a library with your favourite books, without the customary clearance or verification by the staff. Sounds too futuristic to believe? But such a technology already exists in the form of Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID).

The technology promises to enhance the speed and workflow in a library setting by doing away with the current practice of scanning each book with a reader by looking for the barcode, a machine-readable representation of information in a visual format on a surface. A reader is a piece of computer hardware used for reading barcodes printed on various surfaces.

The RFID technology, dubbed as the up-and-coming successor to barcodes, will be introduced as a pilot project at the children's wing of the State Central library here in August. The library will also become one of the first to introduce the technology in the State.

Implemented by the IT Business Group of the Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation Limited, the RFID tags or passive microchips, which resemble the SIM card of a mobile phone, will be attached to the inner flap or bind of a book. However, unlike a SIM card, the tags are devoid of any valuable data or information about either the book or the user. Hence the chance for misuse is minimal. The tag is also not transferable or reusable.

Unique code

The tags are embedded with a unique code that can be identified by a reader even without opening the book or taking it out of the shelf. The reader communicates with the tag through an antenna. "All you need to do is just show the book near the reader or vice versa. The entry will be made," said R. Pradeep, manager, Kerala State IT Business Group, Keltron. "The tag also contains an anti-theft data that emits an alarm if a book is stolen," he said.

The tags are all imported from France as "there are only a few companies in the world which manufacture this." Around 30,000 tags will be imported as a part of the project in the first phase.

"We are planning to introduce a self-issue counter for children in the model of an ATM station at the library," he said. The-self issue counter will be located near the exit and will have a reader attached to it. "Children will be able to clear the selected books by themselves by producing it before the reader. They will also receive a receipt from a thermal printer confirming the clearance," said Mr. Pradeep.

The RFID technology promises to ease up stocktaking, a nightmarish experience for the librarians.

In fact, the task is so tedious that stocktaking at the State Central Library takes place only once in 10 years. "Stock verification at the library is a herculean task. Manually, it takes up to four months for completion. Even then it is prone to errors," said B. Daivadathan, State librarian. It is estimated that the library, including the children's wing, has over three lakh books on its shelves.

The utilisation of RFID tags is highest among libraries in the United States, according to wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia.

It is estimated that over 30 million library items worldwide now contain RFID tags, including the Vatican library in Rome.

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