CONCLUSION

RFID in library speeds up all the processes like issuing, reissuing returning books, monitoring of
books regarding to anti-theft, books searching processes. Performance of a system depends upon
the information on the tag, effectiveness of RFID reader position, tag position. And they all
depend upon the cost. Developments in RFID technology continue to yield larger memory
capacities, wider reading ranges, and faster processing. Updating of manual book keeping, books
are now more easily traceable, Improved utilization of resources like manpower, infrastructure
etc, Less time consumed as no line of sight is mandatory, minimized manual intervention,
minimized manual errors, availability of the long lasting tags, fast access to books, are the main
advantages after implementation of RFID based LMS. Automated RFID based library
management system will increase the speed of transaction as issuing and returning back is now
automated

FUTURE WORK
In future the tag system can be implemented in any type of asset tracking, especially in multinational offices to keep track in their office files, often DVDs. It can also be used in laboratories
for tracking of equipments. RFID can be implemented in public transits for avoidance of
unauthorized travel.

Advantages and Disadvantages of RFID based Library Management System

RFID use can be a controversial topic when libraries choose to convert their collections to be
able to take advantage of the technology. There is little doubt that RFID will become more
ubiquitous in the future, however, a library should weigh the advantages and disadvantages.
Many of the advantages of RFID revolve around the actual use in libraries and using the
technology to free up librarians for duties that involve more interaction with the patrons. Many
of the disadvantages revolve around the technology also, but include issues surrounding security
and privacy.

Advantages
Reduction of staff duties
Use of RFID technology in a library can decrease the time needed for circulation duties since
more than one tag can be read at a time. Patron checkout stations can additionally free up staff
from these duties. The time necessary to complete an inventory of the library collection can be
reduced since inventory can be accomplished with a wand reader as the staff member walks
through the stacks of the collection. In addition to the inventory, this wand can also determine if
items have been shelved in the correct order. Conveyor belts and sorting systems can reduce time
that staff spend shelving returned items because the items can be presorted. By reducing the staff
duties in these areas, staff may be used more efficiently in other areas including increased faceto-face service and increased the number of community programs.
Reduction of staff injuries
Karen Schneider, director of Librarys Index to the Internet, states that the repetitive motion
required by bar code scanners, including flipping an item and angling it correctly, cost libraries
millions of dollars a year in work place injuries. Some libraries, including the San Francisco
Public Libraries, look to RFID as a way to reduce the repetitive stress injuries caused by
sustained and repetitive motion connected to circulation duties especially. Research varies as to
the amount of workmans compensation claims that are connected to repetitive stress injuries
caused by circulation duties, and to what level RFID technology will reduce these injuries and
claims.

Reliability
Correctly operating readers and tags can have near 100% detection rates. Since the tags and
sensors communicate with the Integrated Library System (ILS) it is possible to know exactly
which items are moving out of the library. The high reliability is especially important when
RFID is used in theft detection.
Tag life and appearance
Vendors claim that the tag life can be at least 100,000 transactions or at least 10 years. These tags
do not interfere with the appearance of the book, and can even be made to appear as a bookplate

Disadvantages
Reduction of staff duties
With the automation of many staff duties, it is possible that a reduction in staff may follow.
Cost
RFID is not an inexpensive technology. According to the report prepared for the Public Library
Association (PLA), the budget for a library with 40,000 items in its collection may cost as much
as $70,000. A library with 250,000 items may cost up to $333,500. This is based on the cost of
$0.85 per tag, readers at circulation stations and conversion stations at $2,500 - $5,000 each.
Patron self-checkout stations cost between $18,000 - $22,000 each, which is about the same as
similar stations used for bar code technology. In larger libraries, it would be necessary to have
more than one of these stations. Readers at the exits can cost $3,500 to $6,000, and of course
would be needed at each exit. Readers at the book to return the book to the collection cost the
same as the other circulation readers, about $2,500. However, the price increases considerably
when it is combined with conveyor belts and sorting system. This level of sophistication will cost
the library between $45,000 and $200,000. Portable inventory wands cost at least $2,500 and the
docking station to read the information cost an additional $2,000. If the information is to be
transmitted wirelessly, the library could incur another $3,000 in expenses. Finally, all of these
components need to be able to communicate with the ILS. To do this, the communication
gateway needs to get information from a number of readers, exchange it with the circulation
database, the automated library system, and the transaction database. This costs at least $15,000,
two-thirds of which is the cost of the software. This total cost does not include the cost of staff
time to actually add the tags to the books, the rental of the programmer for the tags, or carpentry
and electrical costs that arise from installation of the equipment.

Susceptibility of tags
Since the RFID tags work because of radio waves, blocking these radio waves stops the entire
system from working efficiently. Unfortunately, this is easily accomplished by wrapping the tag
in aluminum foil. Metallic ink on book covers can also affect the transmission of the radio
waves. Tags can also be susceptible to removal. Since most tags are fixed to the inside of the
back cover, those who desire, could remove the tag. Tags can be inserted into the spines of the
books, however not all tags are so flexible, and this does not address the issue of tags on CDs or
DVDs. Also, tags may cause interference with each other when placed within 1/8th of an inch
proximity.
Big brother and invasion of patron privacy
Undoubtedly, this is the greatest disadvantage of RFID technology use in libraries is it possible
to track patrons, items, and information outside of the library? If it is possible, will patrons stop
using the library? What is the librarys role and responsibility in protecting patron privacy?
According to Richard W. Boss, invasion of privacy at this level is not possible, although he
concedes that even misconceptions have significant consequences. In his report to the PLA he
address concerns about invasion of privacy by pointing out that the tags on the books contain no
patron information, and the link between the patron and the item is maintained only in the secure
library system and that this link is broken as soon as the book is returned. Boss also points out
that RFID tags used in libraries can only be read at a distance of a few feet.
Others are not so optimistic about the security of RFID tags used in libraries. Lee Tien of the
Electronic Frontier Federation (EFF) and Peter Warfield of the Library Users Association have
been outspoken, mainly through commentary in the Berkeley Daily Planet, about privacy issues
especially in Berkeley, CA and San Francisco, CA libraries bringing into question the points that
the public libraries have used to rationalize the use of RFID tags.

David Molnar, an electrical engineering doctoral candidate at UC Berkeley, and UC Berkeley

professor, David Wagner, have studied RFID devices and the architecture used to implement the
technology at libraries. In their October 2004 paper, Molnar and Wagner identify security gaps in
the currently used RFID systems in libraries as well as identify how it would be possible for
outside sources to track patrons and hotlist books. They identify the focus on of the privacy
concerns on the bibliographic database, because this is where information about patrons past
checkouts could be stored. This is the greatest security risk. They identify four aspects of RFID
tags that are vulnerable, and how an adversary may take advantage of these vulnerabilities to
gain information about a person. Even without access to the bibliographic database, Molnar and
Wagner contend that it is still possible that the patrons privacy can be invaded because RFID
tags contain static data that is never changed. This could be information about the library that
owns the book, and so it is possible for a person with the ability to read the tag can find out this
information and determine the general origin of the person carrying the book. It is also possible
for adversaries, those with RFID readers that use them for unauthorized data-collection, to create
a hotlisting of a book. In this case, the actual book is the item of relevance. After the books
bibliographic information, and tag information, is included in a personal database, it is possible
for an adversary to identify when that book is in a public place, such as an airport.
An unauthorized reader [would be able] to determine the tags identity merely through its
collision-avoidance behavior because this protocol is globally unique and is hard coded into the
tag. (Molnar and Wagner) This information is embedded at the time of manufacture and after
learning the collision-avoidance protocol, and adversary can possibly collect more data from the
tag. Even if there are other privacy methods installed onto the tag, because the collisionavoidance protocol is embedded and unchangeable, there is a back door to the tag.
Molnar and Wagner also identify the security bit on read/write tags as vulnerable to vandalism. It
is possible that a vandal could change this bit to read not checked out, and lock the bit in this
position. After locking the bit, the vandal could protect it with a password of its own. If this
object were ever to enter into a library, the bit would not be able to be modified because of the
password, and the tag would have to be replaced.