Two more Wikipedia readings, and I get that these are supposed to get us all on the same page, but while I’m not tech genius I’ve set up networks both at home and work, so none of this is terribly exciting, interesting, or new, although I wish I could figure out how to get my printer networked at home. My Mac laptop won’t recognize it for some reason. I welcome any and all suggestions in the comments.
The youtube video didn’t say anything that Wikipedia didn’t.
Much more interesting is the article on RFID, which my library won’t be using anytime soon due to the costs, which is the same reason any other library would give, this functionalist and rational reasoning aside:
“libraries use new technologies because the conditions in the general environment that led to the development of the technology are also the conditions in which the library operates. In the case of RFID, anyone managing an inventory of physical objects needs to do item-level functions, such as sales or lending, more efficiently and with less human intervention."
Those of you who work in libraries: how many decisions that get made are done on the basis of functionality or rationality?
The article makes it seem as if RFID is a forgone conclusion, and that we may as well embrace it. No offense, but I’ve heard that about a variety of products that never really panned out. Nonetheless, it’s nice to get a scholarly article on RFID, as opposed to the Wikipedia entry for it. It provides an excellent overview and I encourage everyone to check out some of the footnotes for further reading.
I like the idea of RFID chips holding more and more information in the future, which ties back in nicely with Moore’s Law. EZPass in libraries? It’s already the greatest piece of technology on our interstate highway system, so why not move it indoors?
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3 comments:
as to your question about how many library decisions are made on the basis of functionality or rationality? Absolutely none whatsoever. And they don't ask the people who do the work and use the tools on a daily basis for their input or even what they need either. It's onew of the more frustrating things, but I figure it's the same in any field, at any job, right?
I agree about the YouTube video. It didn't really say anything. The RFID reading was the most interesting. I agree that it made it seem like it was already taking off, or destined to, but that it's not necessarily the case. We'll see, I guess.
Maggie-- hah! That's true more often than it should be. But yeah, definitely the same in every field. I heard some interesting stories about the way hospitals are run from my mother-in-law.
I agree with you that it does not seem that RFID is coming to a library near you (approx. 30 million books worldwide have been tagged), but maybe its biggest hurdle after high cost, infrastructure and tag replacement) is privacy. In this day an age with the Patriot Act, terrorism and fear (real or created), for any library to even consider going down that path, it might not be the "right time," unless they can convince its users it is "safe".
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