Free demonstrator explains new RFID standard for libraries

CHIPPENHAM, UNITED KINGDOM — Convergent Software Limited has announced the availability of a free-for-use demonstrator of the the new International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 15962 standard, which increases the opportunity for interoperability of RFID in libraries.

In a news release, the company said the demonstrator could be a first for any sector in providing a free-of-charge access to anyone wanting to understand the encoding on an RFID tag.

ISO/IEC 15962 deals with the processing of data and its presentation to the RF tag, and the initial processing of data captured from the RF tag. The standard is still in development, but has passed its first ballot and is due to be published later this year.

Although the encoding rules of ISO/IEC 15962 are used in other sectors, this encoding method presents a radical change for the library community. The encoding scheme is highly flexible and allows the user, typically the library management, to:

- Select which optional data elements are relevant.

- Re-organise the data elements into a sequence that is appropriate for the library operation.

- Encode each tag with the appropriate data elements; for example, sets of loan items can carry different information from single items.

The demonstrator describes the encoding rules and enables librarians and other prospective users of ISO 28560-2 to input real data to a template to gain a better understanding of the flexibility that this new standard brings. Data that is entered onto the template is submitted to a central processor, which produces a detailed encoding report and e-mails this back to the sender free of charge.